More Friends of Mineral Town: A Collection
by TheSoundofMusic
Summary: Let it be known that there is not enough fluff in the world-to solve this problem, I've created a collection of one shots with couples from More Friends of Mineral town. Requests are welcome!
1. Lighten Up

**Alright! I've stopped work on my main story and started this little collection to bide the time while I wait for votes XD (If you're wondering, my main story is Two Towns and a Lilly-if you haven't read it yet, go ahead and check it out, I've asked readers to read the story then vote for whichever bachelor they like best)  
Anyways. This collection will be for Mineral Town couples only, but by that it can be ANY coupling. As in, any character with any character. ANY character pairing. So go ahead and leave requests :) Now, enjoy!**

* * *

Claire pouted as she leaned across Trent's desk, her blonde hair falling gently onto its surface and covering some of the papers he was working with. "Trent, you never leave the office," she said grumpily, inwardly smiling when he finally looked up from his work to talk to her. "I'm busy, Claire. You know that. Besides, I do leave the office," Trent looked flustered as he tried to defend himself. "Every Wednesday."

That wasn't enough for Claire though. He deserved to enjoy himself every once in a while, and she was determined to play a big role in that. While she slid off the desk and straightened her overalls, he went back to his work, somehow oblivious to the fact that this girl who had befriended him nearly three years ago was now trying to turn that friendship into something more.

Trent did have feelings for her, but he every time he thought about pursuing a relationship his logical side seemed to calculate every way Claire would say no. Thus, he buried any feelings he had and retreated into his work. When she walked out of his office, he looked up and watched until she turned the corner to Elli's reception desk.

"Elli," Claire said, knowing full well that Trent could hear them even though he was in the other room. "Could you possibly do me a favor tomorrow?" It was a Saturday the next day, and as both girls knew well, it was considered to be the "dead day" of the week. Paperwork was often finished that morning, and then Trent would lock himself in his room to read while Elli went home early.

Claire winked at her friend, and the nurse caught on immediately and gave her a huge smile. "Of course, Claire! It would be no problem at all," the nurse smiled sweetly at her friend, giving her a wink back. In his office, the doctor frowned as he shuffled around papers, and he began to worry that the girls were plotting something. When Claire walked out the door waving, he sighed. Getting up, he stretched and walked over to Elli's desk.

Giving her his signature look, he sternly watched her while she fidgeted nervously with the medicine orders that had been placed that day. "Elli." She jumped when he said her name, but looked up and gave her childhood friend a sweet smile. "Yes, Trent?" He just glared at her until she meekly dropped her smile. "What exactly is this…'favor' you're doing for Claire?"

Much to his surprise, Elli began to scold him. "Trent! How many times have I told you not to eavesdrop? Besides that, it's her business and mine, so you just butt out!" Trent gave her a pleading look, but she crossed her arms and it was her turn to glare at him. "I'm not telling you!" With a sigh, the doctor gave up and turned to look at the door, wondering exactly what would be in store for him tomorrow.

The next morning the door to the clinic slammed open. When Trent looked up, he was surprised to see Claire. Well, really he was surprised to see what she was wearing. There was a basket in one hand, and instead of her usual overalls, she was wearing shorts and a nice top. Her stance in the door way looked like that of a hero who had come to rescue his princess from her tower; her hands on her hips, she stood defiantly in the doorway, her gaze locked with his.

Before he could react, she marched straight up to him, put down the basket, and grabbed his arm. While he protested, she pulled him past Elli (who waved cheerfully) and up to his room. "Claire, what-?" Not giving him an answer, she pushed him to sit down on the bed and forcefully removed his doctor's coat so that he was just wearing his slacks and his button up shirt. "Trent," she declared, "You and I are going to spend the day together."

"What am I doing here," Trent muttered as he watched Claire running around picking flowers at the base of Mother's Hill. From a distance, Claire laughed and waved the flowers at him, then ran up to him, a huge smile wreathing her pretty face. "Look, aren't they pretty?" she asked, holding up the flowers and looking for approval. Trent suppressed the urge to blush and looked away frowning. "They...they're nice," he allowed, and Claire smiled as if he had just given the greatest compliment in the world. "You can have one then!" she exclaimed cheerfully, slipping one into the pocket on his shirt.

His face began to turn red as she let her fingers delicately run across his chest, and he looked down at his tormentor who giggled up at him in a very un-Claire way. "Your face is red," she said, dropping her voice back to its normal low tone. "You wouldn't happen to be…sick would you, Doctor Trent?" Teasingly she poked him in the chest. Trent took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "Claire, I shouldn't even be here," he began, but got no further before the blonde grabbed him by his collar and yanked him down, planting her lips on his.

The kiss lasted for a minute before Claire pushed him off and grinned at him, her hands on her hips. "You're too uptight, you know? Probably why you haven't realized any of my feelings, to be honest." She laughed, embarrassed by her sudden, gutsy move. "You're smart, and wonderful, and so very cute…and that's what I like best about you, but I don't get to see that side of you for longer than five minutes at a time. So lighten up!"

It happened a lot faster than she expected. One second, she was standing, looking up at the doctor, and the next second her back pressed into a tree as Trent held her wrists and kissed her passionately. He broke away to give her air, and while she gasped he whispered, "You really feel that way about me? Truly?" Claire took a few deep breaths, then smiled at him stunningly and whispered back, "Always have, Trent. Always."

He found himself gently brushing her hair away from her face while she leaned into his chest, sighing contentedly. "I can't believe it…I can't. Claire do you really mean it?" Claire, her eyes closed, tsked and said, "For the seventh time, OF COURSE I mean it. By the Goddess, Trent, would I really kiss someone I didn't care for?" Trent pouted and looked away. "Well, you certainly flirt an awful lot with Cliff." Claire opened one eye and peeked up at him, pleased to see that he was still pouting. _How cute,_ she thought, then spoke out loud. "It's not flirting-it's called helping the man find a job. What's wrong with that?"

Trent buried his face in her hair and mumbled, "Well what about that time the two you got all cozy in the hospital room…right in front of my office, huh?" Claire's hand found its way to his hair, and she her fingers through it, enjoying its silky texture. "You're so silly. The poor boy's only got a few friends in town, and I'm one of them. Besides," she wriggled out of his grasp and kissed him on the cheek, pulling back and enjoying his blush. "You're the only one I really had my eye on this whole time." Trent grinned happily, and grabbed her, setting her in his lap and kissing her deeply.

Walking back hand in hand to the clinic, they ran into Elli who gave Claire a happy look and shot the doctor a smirk. Blushing, Trent unlocked the door of the clinic and let them both in before closing it gently, locking it again. He turned around but Claire was nowhere in sight. Wondering where she'd gone, he began to look around when he heard a giggle and a figure clothed in white appeared in the door of his office.

"Look, Trent!" Claire said, showing off his doctor's coat which Elli had retrieved from the bedroom and hung in the office. He smiled at her until an image of her in nothing BUT the coat flashed through his mind and he blushed, looking away. _What the heck,_ he thought to himself, mentally scolding. Claire was not about to make things easier for him. Shuffling up to him, she lifted both her arms and gave him a huge grin which said, "Pick me up!"

Blushing that much harder, he gently grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up into a hug. Her arms went around his neck and she buried her face in his neck, kissing a gentle trail down to his collarbone. "I'm so happy, Trent," she growled into his neck and he nearly reeled as he took in her scent. "I…I should take you home now," he stuttered, but she silenced him with a kiss and looked up at him, mischief dancing in her eyes. "Who said I plan on going home?"


	2. Different

_Thank you, __**Chris Shino**__ for giving me such an interesting couple request to work with._

It's so quiet. Of course it is though, since no one ever seems to come here. You'd think people would appreciate fine literature more, but nooo, they'd much rather gossip in the square or just stick to their same boring routines, day after day.

Then again, I'm one to talk. I come here every day but Mondays and it's the same thing the entire day. Sit at the desk. Contemplate life while I stare at the pages of a book I've read only a thousand times already. Attempt to write something of my own but fail miserably because I'm too worried about what would happen if anyone ever read it. Yeah, same thing. Day after day.

However….today's Wednesday. And Wednesdays are the days HE comes in here. He doesn't give me a big showy greeting like Manna would, nor does he shyly wave from a distance like Gray would. There's something rather attractive about a man who looks you right in the eye when he addresses you. Always to the point to, curt as most people would say. I rather like it though.

The door chimes happily and I tense my shoulders as I hear footfalls near my desk. "Good afternoon, Mary," his deep voice seems to resound throughout the room. I look up, and sure enough he's looking directly at me. My breath catches in my throat for a moment before I manage to quietly say hello back.

Now that he's had his greeting, I'm sure he'll go up and begin to browse the medical books as he does every week, but to my surprise he places one hand on the desk and leans awkwardly, as if not sure how to be casual. "So…got any new books?" he asks, and a hand almost flies to my mouth as I realize that he's actually gone and changed up our routine. _He's talking to you, Mary. Make the most of it,_ I tell myself and I straighten up for the first time in ages to look at him. "Not recently," I say, failing to come up with a decent way to continue the conversation.

"Ah. Well, thank you, regardless," he says, leaving my desk and walking up the stairs. I give a sigh and resist the urge to hit myself in the forehead. _Way to go. That was really smooth. _Sometimes I amaze myself with the amount of depth I appear to have. Either way, today's different. And if the doctor can change up the routine, why can't I?

Nervously, I edge up the stairs and head towards where I know he's bound to be, staring at the same bookshelf as he does every week. For someone of my small size, I sure know how to make an entrance and I thoroughly demonstrate my grace as I bump into a bookshelf. It falls with a loud crash to the ground, nearly burying me in a pile of books. As I'm telling myself this is a sign that coming upstairs was a bad idea, a hand appears in front of me. "Need some help?" he asks, as poised as ever. Hmm, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

After he pulls me to my feet, he lets go, although I want to hold on for much longer. He bends over to slowly begin picking up books, and I join him. Side by side, we carefully pick up the books and set them in piles. Once we raise the fallen shelf, we begin putting the books up, side by side. To my surprise, he makes a stab at conversation. "How has your work maintaining the library been? I suppose it's hard, considering no one comes in to appreciate any of it." I nod, then clear my throat and speak up. "It's not so much hard as it is…boring." I make a face, and to my surprise the normally stoic face breaks into a rather handsome smile before returning to its cold mask. "It's the same over at the Clinic. We cater to exactly two patients….three, if you count Claire." I feel myself frown at the mention of the blonde's name. She's never been unkind to me; in fact, she's one of the few people in this town that I find interesting enough to really talk to. Still, I don't like the way he says her name, like he finds her just as fascinating as the rest of the boys do in this town. Trying to clear the negative thoughts from my mind, I say, "Oh? What's wrong with her?" The doctor shakes his head, but gives me a teasing grin and I feel my face burn as he says, "I'm not allowed to tell that to people, you know. But…" suddenly his hand is on the bookshelf and I'm looking up at him, trapped between the wall and his body. "I might make an exception for you."

Before I can even begin to comprehend what's going on, his other hand slides up by my head and he leans in close. I think he's about to kiss me, and for some reason this excites me. Right before our lips can touch, I hear the happy chime from downstairs, and then I hear Gray call, "Mary?" The doctor straightens up and I begin to walk to the stairs, my heart pounding and my face so red it nearly burns. I want to make sense of it all, but I just can't. Right before I go downstairs, he says my name. "Mary." I turn, and my lips collide into his before he pulls back, giving me a breath taking smile. He walks past me, and as my hand rises involuntarily to my lips he looks back, still smiling. "Come visit me at the clinic soon," he says with a wave, leaving me to sink to my knees and wonder if his invitation means what I think it does.


	3. Just a Bother?

**Well, Gray and Claire are an awfully popular couple, not to mention I like them too so here's my little tribute to them. I wouldn't mind writing duplicates of couples either, to be honest. And in answer to the reviews-yes, I do any character with any character. I think it'll be interesting to see what pairs people come up with and see how I can work with it. **

**Also, sorry if my formatting sucks XD It's either my computer or the site but I'll try and fix it whatever it is. Now, read and review! Remember, requests are totally welcome, otherwise I'll just go through all the standard couples first. **

Gray sighed, setting down his tools, glad to be done with his work for the day.

"I'm off, Gramps," he said, shooting out the door before Saibria could yell at him. As he breathed in the fresh scent of the outside, he glanced over in the direction of Claire's farm.

The little blonde hadn't shown up at the blacksmith's that day like she normally did; every day she showed up, trying to talk to him and distract him. Gray told himself that her absence was a good thing, although somewhere inside he felt a small twist at the idea that she'd run into some trouble trying to fix up the old farm she'd been tricked into buying.

* * *

Claire hadn't had a day as tiring as this in a long while.

While her puppy romped through the dirty, weed infested field, she sat down and worriedly mulled over her recent expenses. First there had been her house-so tiny that it was more of a shack than anything. That had taken up quite a bit of energy and expense. Then it was buying that cow, and then deciding not two days after to buy corn and plant it.

She grumbled to herself over that decision, but smiled a little when she thought how surprised Gray would be when she made him his favorite dish. Speaking of Gray…she hadn't visited at all that day. She'd been too busy trying to clear her field and sow the seeds, not to mention watering and then taking care of the few animals she owned.

She smiled wryly to herself. The man may have been handsome, but he could be extremely rude at times. It wasn't like he couldn't tell she was flirting with him; what was most irritating is that he did nothing in return.

In all honesty, she would have preferred it if he just outright rejected her instead of the constant "don't talk to me" dance he did while having that look on his face as if he DID want to talk to her. The blonde gave another sigh, then slowly sat back and watched as the sky seemed to fall from the blazing sky. With a smile, she fell asleep.

* * *

He was worried. He felt as if he had no right to be, but he was worried anyways.

While Gray shifted from one foot to the other, the librarian looked over in his direction. Setting down the book she'd been busy reading, she came over to him cautiously and asked, "Gray? Is everything alright?"

The blacksmith's apprentice looked up and found Mary staring at him with just a bit too much concern in her eyes for his liking.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." He mumbled, and Mary frowned.

"Are you sure? You've been shifting quite a bit," she pointed out, and Gray abruptly shut his book with a snap, causing her to jump a bit.

"Yes, I'm fine," he barked at the poor girl, before walking out of the library angrily. Claire's fault. Most definitely, Claire's fault.

* * *

Claire felt herself being carried, and when she opened her eyes found herself in Zach's arms.

"Wha-what?" she managed to stutter out. Zach only grunted and kept carrying her, heading right for the doors of the clinic. Claire shook her head and tried to say something when she heard footstep behind Zach. The next thing she knew, Gray was yelling.

"Claire! CLAIRE! What's wrong!?" She wanted to turn around tell Gray she was alright, and make Zach put her down, but she was just so…tired….

* * *

As he sat next to her in the hospital room, he watched her. Her bright blue eyes, brighter than any gem he'd ever held, were closed, and she panted lightly for breath. The doctor came in, the timid nurse by his side, and Gray stood up, unsure of what to do.

"Will she be…is she okay?" Gray asked quietly, and the doctor nodded.

"Yes. Claire will be fine. She's just collapsed of exhaustion. She'll have to stay here overnight, but I'll take good care of her."

Gray didn't like the way the doctor looked at Claire. It was as if he was more than happy she was to stay overnight. Something seemed to snap inside, and Gray sat down on the stool and gently took Claire's tiny, fragile hand in his own.

"I'll stay with her."

* * *

She woke to find herself in the hospital bed. The lights were off, and as she went to stretch she suddenly realized her hand was warmer than the rest of her body. Slowly, she looked over and found Gray, asleep in the stool, still holding her hand.

She blushed, somewhat confused at where she was, but happy that Gray was there and holding her hand. Realizing she'd never seen him with such a peaceful expression, she gently pushed the cap off his head, letting it fall to the floor.

Her hand slipped out of his and joined her other hand to explore his messy auburn hair. While she wondered at how soft it was, he woke up.

* * *

_Her eyes are so blue,_ he mused, before realizing that her hands were in his hair and she was staring at him in wonder.

"Gah!" he gave a whispered cry and jerked away, blushing.

"C-claire! You're awake?" Gray went to pull his cap over his face to hide his blush, but found to his dismay that his cap was not where it should have been. Before he could look for it, Claire's tiny hands had placed themselves on either side of his face, and he found himself looking back into her eyes.

"Gray, why were you holding my hand?" she whispered, and his face burned even more.

"No reason. It's not like I like you or anything, so don't get the wrong idea okay?" Gray snapped harshly at her in a whisper. He regretted it instantly when her hands dropped and she gave a sad smile, turning away from him.

"Oh…" she sighed sadly, and in that instant Gray's mind went blank as he leaned forward.

* * *

As Gray tilted his head to deep the kiss, Claire felt herself slipping. With a rustle, she fell back on the pillow, Gray pinning her body down to the bed. When he pulled back, she saw him staring at her, a fierce expression on his face.

"Do you have ANY idea how much you piss me off?" Gray said before crushing her lips to his again. He felt Claire's arms go around his neck, and when he pulled back again he saw that she was smiling up at him.

"I know, I'm a bother, right?" she said, grinning mischievously the way she did every morning she came in to give Gray a present.

"Big time," he agreed, and when she opened her mouth to say something again he silenced her with another kiss.

The two of them panted, gasping for breath.

"Am I…hurting you?" Gray managed to gasp out and Claire shook her head. His knees were on either side of the bed, pinning her in between. Her tiny, delicate wrists were trapped as his large, strong hands held her down. There was something deliciously taboo about it all.

"I'm not dreaming, am I?" Claire said, and Gray looked at her curiously. She blushed and began to babble. "It's just you don't even look twice at me, so I never thought you'd have feelings for me and that we'd never-" Gray's breath in her ear caused her to stop with a squeak, and he growled low.

"Don't look at you twice? Please. I can't bring myself to look at you more than once because I'm afraid something will happen…something like what's happening right now." Claire suppressed a small shiver as Gray bit her neck gently and murmured into it. "I don't want to hurt you…I just want to be with you. Can you stand my attitude, now that you know that?" Claire hugged him close, her hands running through his hair. "I think I can do anything, now that I know all this."

* * *

"Well isn't this something?" Elli giggled to herself as she saw Claire and Gray asleep together in the hospital bed. "Looks like she shouldn't have been so worried about him liking her after all," the nurse smiled, before slowly drawing the curtains over the sleeping couple.

**So apologies once again if the formatting is lame but I didn't really know how it would be best to format this one...it was kind of random formatting when I wrote it and then saved it...sorry!  
Please review anyways XD**


	4. Lonely

_There he goes_, Lillia sighed to herself, watching as well muscled man strode past her store on his way to Claire's farm.

She knew that she shouldn't be this way; she was already married, already had two young, bright children and a dedicated husband who was on a desperate search to cure her…but she was lonely. And loneliness seemed to make her feel even worse than her disease already did.

As she turned to examine her desk, she began to recall her first meeting with him. Zack.

_She was sitting on the couch, counting bills when the door chimed._

_ "Honey, I'm home!" her husband called as the door swung shut behind him. How he managed to be so cheerful when they were low on money was beyond her understanding sometimes, but it was one of the reasons she adored him. To her surprise, he came around to the couch instead of going straight upstairs like he normally did. _

_"Lillia," he said in a serious voice as he knelt down to take her hands._

_"I've brought home a new friend with me. We should keep him here, until he's strong enough and well off enough to take care of himself in that big, empty house down by the beach. I believe he can help us ship things off to the city. That way, we'll make more money and be able to help him at the same time!" _

_Not giving her time to protest, he pulled her to her feet and tugged her lightly over to the door, where a dirt covered man stood, his clothes torn and ragged. As soon as the man saw Lillia, he bowed awkwardly and shifted from foot to foot. _

_"I-I'm sorry to intrude, ma'am. I don't mean to be a hindrance or a bother…" When he looked up, Lillia found herself almost drawn to him. _

_"It's no bother at all, to have you here. Welcome to our home." She held out her hand and smiled gently. _

_"I'm Lillia." _

_The man carefully took her hand to shake it, and Lillia could tell that despite his obvious strength he was trying to be as gentle as possible._

_ "Thank you. I'm Zack." As he looked up to meet her eyes again, she blushed._

Lillia was drawn back to the present time by a crash from upstairs, followed by Popuri running down to the main room.

"You don't care about me at all! You're the worst Rick, stop poking your fat head in my business!" Her daughter fled out the door before Lillia could ask what was wrong. Her son, Rick, came stomping down the stairs quickly, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

"Mom! Where did Popuri go?"

With a small smile, Lillia pointed at the door, which caused her son to rush out calling after his sister. On the way out, he nearly crashed into Zack who had come to visit on his way back home.

"Careful, Rick," Zack warned, and Rick nodded before taking off towards the chickens were housed, knowing that it was his sister's favorite place to sulk. Watching Rick go inside the small coop, Zack turned to Lillia, shaking his head.

"They grow up so fast, huh?" he mused, and Lillia nodded in agreement.

"It seems like only yesterday there were small children," she said with a sad smile, looking at her desk to hide her blush as Zack walked up to rest his arms on the table. When he leaned forward and began to talk about his day, Lillia let her mind wander again.

"_Tag, you're it!" Rick giggled and ran away on his short, stubby legs, his tiny arms flailing as he fled from Zack. The big man chased after him playfully, a big smile on his chiseled face. _

_"I'm going to get you!" he teased, changing direction and heading after Popuri, who shrieked with laughter when he caught her and threw her into the air, catching her in his strong arms as she came down. Lillia sat on the steps and smiled, watching as he entertained her children. _

_Her husband, Rod, had gone to the inn to talk with his friends. Although Lillia didn't want to admit it, she was having more fun watching Zack play with the children than she did when Rod came home and told her the gossip that was buzzing around town. Zack left the children to play by themselves for a bit and walked over to the steps. _

_Lillia scooted over and made room for him to sit next to her. Watching the kids laughing, Zack sighed. _

_"I'm so thankful for you taking me into your home," he said quietly, and Lillia looked at him in surprise. In the few months that he'd been there, he'd already grown to be a part of their family and he had been bashful about thanking her up to this point. _

_"It's no problem at all, Zack. We've been more than happy to have you here…I…I've been more than happy to have you here." Lillia blushed, shocked at her own words, and Zack looked at her in confusion._

_ "Lillia?" _

"Lillia?"

She snapped out of her trance to find Zack looking at her with worried eyes.

"Are you okay? Do you need to lie down or something?"

She blushed as he leaned in closer to examine her and she held up her hands and shook her head.

"I'm fine, Zack. I've just spaced out a bit, that's all."

Zack stood up and rubbed the back of his head in an embarrassed manner.

"You know you can always come to me if something's wrong, right?"

Lillia blushed even harder and looked down at her desk again.

"I know."

The two stood in silence before they heard the door to the chicken coop clang open and saw both Popuri and Rick heading back towards the house. Zack turned to Lillia and said, "Can I talk to you? Tomorrow morning, when you're alone?"

Lillia hesitated, but then nodded. "I'll…I'll leave the door open for you."

Zack smiled and then turned, walking out the door. As Lillia watched, he first laughed then hugged Popuri, before ruffling Rick's hair and heading home.

The next morning the door chimed happily as Zack stepped into the quiet house. Lillia, who had been waiting for him, smiled and said, "We can sit on the couch while we talk. Come on."

Nervously, he followed her there, and the two sat down in silence, avoiding each other's gaze. After a few minutes, Zack cleared his throat.

"Lillia…" She turned to look at him only to have his lips crash into hers. He pulled away quickly and looked ashamed.

"I'm sorry, but I've wanted to do that for so long no matter how guilty-" She cut him off with a kiss of her own, pouncing on him. Breathlessly, she pulled back with a blush.

"I…I've wanted you to do that for so long, "she finally admitted to him as he watched her in surprise.

"I'm so lonely…and Rod…Rod never touched me when he was here, and he didn't talk to me the way you do and…"

Zack didn't give her time to finish her sentence. With a sort of growl, he tackled her into the couch, pressing against her as he kissed her roughly.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you," he said as he broke away to let her gasp for air. Much to his pleasure, she only tugged at his shirt.

"Don't be," she murmured, and with that he kissed her throat, causing her to tug at his clothes even harder than before.

* * *

**So I'll be working on all the requests and get around to them, slowly but surely XD It may take some time, since I usually try to finish up the chapters for my main story first cause I have the most followers on that one XD Keep requesting, and be patient! :) **


	5. Summer

**_Accidentally the Whole Fanfic: This really WAS in an interesting couple to think about, as are most of your suggestions XD Thanks for the challenging_ requests!**

* * *

_Cliff's POV_

Angst. Anger. That's all anyone ever seems to see in me; even Carter says so sometimes.

That's not entirely true. I'm not always sad, or depressed. There's one person who knows how to make me smile, one person who know how I tick.

It's him.

He smells of summer, an indescribable blend of sun, wind, and surf all mixed into the perfect scent.

His carefree, nonchalant mood, so very different to mine. That's probably what I find the most attractive about him, to be honest.

It's wrong though, to have these feelings for him. At least, if Carter and the rest of the town are to be believed.

**But I don't care.**

* * *

_Kai's POV_

Ah, Mineral Town.

Oh who am I kidding? I only come here for Summers because if I stayed year-round, that pink haired little bimbo would have me corralled to her house faster than Claire corrals her cows.

I'm unpacking when I see Cliff awkwardly standing by an umbrella, as if its slim rod will somehow hide him.

"Cliff!" I call, happy to see him again.

He gives a shy smile and heads over to me, glancing up and down as I unpack.

"Hey, Kai," he says, his husky voice causing me to hide a shiver. There's something that draws me to him, something that I can never pinpoint.

Not that I ever care if I do pinpoint it. I'm happy enough just spending time with him, even if I'll never be able to treat him the same way I treat all the girls here.

"What gives, trying to hide behind that umbrella? I thought you and I are friends!" I tease him, happy when I see a blush light up his cheeks.

Too cute. He's way, way too cute for my liking, and if I don't get myself under control I might do something that could ruin the friendship I've finally established with him

* * *

_Cliff's POV_

He's back! I can hardly stand still from excitement, but I do my best to be casual around him.

I'm more than happy when he teases me, and I look away hoping that my blush can be excused as that of a happy friend, not that of someone with a crush.

"What are your plans for tonight?" I ask, hoping that he'll say he doesn't have any and I can make one of my many awkward attempts to invite him to hang out.

Much to my disappointment, he purses his lips and looks out to sea.

"Well, I promised Claire that on the night I got back I'd visit her. She said she has a surprise for me. Wonder what it could be, huh?" he laughs, and keeps digging in his bag.

I form my hands into fists to keep from screaming in frustration.

Claire. That little farm girl. I love her to death, seeing as she's the only other person besides Kai who kind of understands me. Still, knowing that Kai will be with her tonight has me on edge.

Kai's well known for being able to please girls.

Kicking at the sand, I pout, and he sees it and claps me on the shoulder with a smile at me.

"Hey now, don't make that face! You're not jealous are you?" he asks, and I try to hide my scowl.

"N-not a chance. I just wanted to spend time with you…that's all." I manage to stutter out.

I'm surprised when I see his already dark skin darken just a little more. Have I said something too forward, too suggestive?

He smiles at me again before picking up the bag and unlocking the door to his little shack on the beach.  
"Don't worry, Cliff. I promise, we'll spend time together tomorrow."

* * *

_Kai's POV_

"HE WAS SO DAMN CUTE TODAY!" I pound the table and hiccup, already slightly tipsy despite only being on my second bottle of wine.

Claire giggles and takes a swig of her own bottle.

"Yeah yeah, I know. This is what I get to hear, first thing from you? No fantastic stories about the open sea, no adventure? Just 'Cliff this' and 'Cliff that'? I support you and all, and want you two to be together but I got you wine, can you at least let me hear something other than how depressed you are because you can't get the guts to feel him up already?"

I nearly spit out the wine and I glare at my friend mockingly while she laughs. Claire's the best friend anyone could ever ask for; not many girls in this town would have kept quiet about my feelings for Cliff. Sure, she can be brash at times, but that's what makes her so perfect for Gray, who's currently in the same situation I am now, not being able to confess to her yet wanting to anyways.

While I'm deliberating all this quietly she leans forward and gives me a serious look.

"Kai," she says, and I look up, wondering what she's going to say now.

"You've got to make a move, Kai. Otherwise you'll never know how he feels about you. Besides that, aren't you worried that Ann will try and take him from you?"

I gulp and look down at my lap, playing with my bandanna which I've taken off and wrapped around my hand.

"I don't even know if he would like me just because…well I'm a guy. And he's a guy. So…"

Claire snorts as if this is a silly idea. Taking another sip of wine, she puts the bottle down with a heavy clunk and looks at me as if I'm a stupid kid.

"That shouldn't matter. You like him. And I'm pretty sure he likes you. Who cares what the rest of this town says?"

* * *

_Cliff's POV_

I know it's kind of creepy, but I watch the window for Kai. As I wait for him to come up the road and back to the inn, there's a light knock on my door.

"Come in," I call, even though all I want to do is stay by the window and brood in silence.

Ann, the innkeeper's daughter, dances in with a big smile on her face.

"Hey Cliff!" she says, as cheerful as always. "Want to go on a walk with me? We can go to the spring, it's beautiful and everything and-"

She cuts off her talking as my regular roommate, Gray, walks in. He gives her one look and rolls his eyes, walking over to his bed and throwing himself down on it with a grunt.

I shake my head at Ann. I feel guilty for all of a second when her face falls, but then I see Kai in the doorway I totally forget all about it. He must've come up the street while Ann was talking to me.

"Ready to go?" he asks, a big grin on his face. I smile and walk over to him, not giving a second thought about the girl in the overalls that I leave behind.

We walk in silence to the hot springs. When we get there, Kai begins shucking his clothes off casually, and I blush and look away. I'm not sure what I'd do if I actually SAW him fully unclothed; it might be too much for me to bear.

Quickly, I undress and get in the water, closing my eyes until I hear him enter as well. When I open my eyes, I find him staring right at me, and as the breeze blows I get another whiff of his scent, full of summer.

"Kai?" I ask, unsure as to what he wants to say. He opens his mouth, then closes it before taking a deep breath.

"Cliff," he says, "I like you."

* * *

_K__ai's POV_

I watch him blush when I say those words, and he looks away, his face red.

Maybe choosing to confess while we're both naked in the spring was a bad idea.

I'm surprised however, when he turns to look at me bashfully. His brown hair, normally tied up in a ponytail, floats around him and he avoids my gaze as he quietly replies, "I like you too."

I don't want him to misunderstand me, so I clear my throat and say it again.

"Cliff, I mean I like you…as more than friends…as in…" I reach out and grab his hand, intertwining my fingers with his.

He looks up at me with his big, black eyes and he smiles shyly. "I know. And I'm glad."

Before I can help it, I've leaned in to kiss him.

"Kai," he breathes, before tackling me and nearly driving me insane.

In the morning, I'll have to thank Claire for pushing me to confess.

* * *

**So this was my first time to ever write boyxboy XD I figured that the best way to do it would be if I took in from their perspectives and tried to think about things the same way I did when I wrote my oneshot with Cam's and Lillian's perspectives. Let me know how I did, and remember, leave requests! I'll try and see if I can start getting up two a day instead of just one :) **


	6. Merchant

"Is money all you ever think about?" Zack asked his roommate.

The merchant looked down his nose at the shipper and gave a small snort.

"Of course not. I think about beautiful women too you know. Like that Karen." Just the thought of the beauty had Won shivering with delight.

It was that moment that the door clanged open with the happy chime that annoyed Won to death.

"Good afternoon!" Claire said cheerfully to Zack, before turning to Won.

Zack waved, and the merchant tried his best not to look to greedy.

"Can I help you today? I'll make things extra cheap for you," Won said, crossing his fingers behind his back.

To his surprise, Claire leaned forward on the little crate he used as a desk, her blonde locks falling delicately on the box.

"Question, Won," she said, and the merchant looked at her, wondering what she wanted.

"Yes, Claire?" he asked, and the blonde grinned before reaching out and tugging on his braid.

"How much for you to go on a date with me?" she asked, twirling the braid between her fingers.

Won looked at her, shocked, while Zack turned to the corner, his body shaking to hide his laughter at the whole situation.

"Wha-what?" the merchant asked, thoroughly confused.

Claire threw her head back and laughed, but then looked at him seriously.

"I wasn't kidding, you know," she said, leaning even further forward and pressing her arms in to emphasize her body.

Won stared, noticing that she was actually very curvy underneath the baggy overalls she always wore.

He opened his mouth to name a price, when the blonde straightened up, throwing a small sack of coins on the table and heading for the door with a wave.

"I'll see you tomorrow night, Won. My house. And if I'm not satisfied by the end of the night…well I expect either a refund or a do-over."

Zack howled with laughter as the door shut and Won looked after her, confused, a light pink on his cheeks.

When he arrived the next night at her house, he instantly felt foolish.

Why had he bothered coming here like it was some sort of date anyways?

Won reasoned to himself that he had just come to return Claire's money and tell her that she'd played a very clever joke on him, when her door swung open.

"Well, get in here," the farmer said.

The merchant couldn't bring himself to look away from her as he slowly stepped into her house and seated himself at her table.

She wore a cropped t-shirt and a pair of extremely short shorts. The clothes hugged her body in all the right places, and her long hair smelled of flowers, not the cow manure he'd expected it to smell like.

While he wondered at all of it, she set down a plate in front of him.

"Eat up!" she said cheerfully, giving him a wink as she headed back towards her kitchen.

Looking down, he saw that a large slice of steaming apple pie was sitting in front of him.

It smelled far too good to resist, so he carefully picked up the fork she'd left nearby and took a bite.

By the time Claire came back out, done cleaning up her kitchen, the pie was gone and Won was sitting back in the chair, his eyes closed with a look of pleasure on his face.

"That tasted wonderful," he breathed, and Claire smiled, leaning on her table to look at the merchant.

"I'm glad you liked it-I used those expensive apples you sold me."

Won opened his eyes and leaned forward, taking her hands in his.

"I'd be willing to give you some of those for free if you make me more food like that!"

Claire suddenly gave him a mischievous smile.

"Oh?" she said, tilting her head and raising one eyebrow.

Won blushed and looked away, dropping her hands.

"Not that it would be…special treatment or anything." He mumbled half-heartedly, but Claire laughed.

"Of course it wouldn't be. After all, I may be no beauty like Karen, but…" Claire leaned forward even more and watched the now red Won with her dark, seductive eyes, "I think I might measure up to your beauty standards after all."

Won looked down at his hands.

"Why did you ask me to come here, Claire? Why did you pay me?" he asked, and the blonde smiled ruefully, standing up and looking out the window.

"It was the only way to really grab your attention. I've been trying for so long to get you to SEE me, Won. And finally, I figured that the best way to do that would to do this," she gestured at her clothes, then looked at him, giving the merchant a sad sort of smile.

Won suddenly realized that he'd made a very big mistake in thinking that all of the gifts Claire had given him for years now were just tokens of friendship.

Standing up, he walked around the table and grabbed her by the waist.

"Claire, I'm sorry." He apologized, and the farmer looked on in amazement as he began to berate himself. "I've been selfish, I know. But it's hard for me…when you live so cheaply that you can't even afford a house let alone a desk or bed of your own…I've always just focused on money, and because of that I've pushed away any romance that comes my way."

Claire looked at him in surprise, blushing. A thought seemed to occur to her, and she smiled leaning into him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well, I suppose I can forgive you if you do one thing for me," she said, taking off his glasses and setting them down lightly on her table.

"What's that?" Won asked, and the blonde giggled before leaning into him even more.

"Why don't you find out?" she whispered in his ear, before pressing her lips to his.

**Okay, that's one down and two more to go! : ) expect more stories coming up, and Midoriri, I hope you liked my attempt XD **


	7. Love Letters

_To my dearest Aja,_

_ Summer seems to ebb away as fall approaches as it does every year, and every year when it does so I remember that day you left me. _

_I've never had a summer day as bleak as that was. I know what you told me; and I know why you left but I just can't bring myself to really understand it. _

_Are you that ashamed of me? Maybe I'm not the best looking man out there, and maybe your parents wouldn't have approved, but I loved you. _

_I still love you. _

_Aja, come home to me. I can take care of you…and I can take care of her. I want to meet her._

_Love,_

_Harris_

* * *

_Dear Harris,_

_ Every day, she grows so much taller, so much bigger. She's full of life, and full of happiness; just like you. _

_She asks about her father, and I tell her all about you. Your strength, your wisdom, your caring nature. _

_It isn't shame of you; it's shame of what we did. _

_I can only blame myself for this though. I was young, sixteen, and you were already in your twenties. You've always been so sure of yourself, so proper that I KNOW it was my fault that it all happened._

_We shouldn't have been there. We shouldn't have gone down to my parent's cellar that night._

_I shouldn't have convinced you to drink as much as you did._

_That was deceitful of me; tricking you into a drunken stupor so that I could finally, finally get you to hold me, and kiss me, and do what I'd been longing to do ever since we started seeing each other._

_You can't imagine the remorse I feel when I saw your expression the next morning._

_You can't even begin to fathom how painful it was for me when you couldn't even bring yourself to talk to me, because you were so ashamed at what you'd done._

_It was my fault. _

_And I'm sorry for it. _

_Aja_

* * *

_To my Aja,_

_ Have I fallen so far from your affection that you can no longer sign your letters to me with a 'yours' or a 'love'? _

_You need to let go of that night; what happened is done. _

_While you may consider this your fault, you shouldn't. I am to blame as well, for I knew that to drink in your presence would have been a mistake on my part._

_So young, so vibrant…you were every bit as beautiful then as I'm sure you are now. It was almost agonizing to me to hold back when we met secretly on Mother's Hill._

_I'm sure that I only held back because I knew you were underage, and I thought that I would scare you if I went any further._

_But then that night happened._

_What a blissful night that was; if only I could remember it._

_I'm sorry if I threw guilt your way. Believe me, that was not my intention._

_The only reason I avoided you those first few days, was because I longed to be with you again._

_There was something magical about what we did._

_Guilt DID consume me that initial morning…but soon after it was not guilt that drove me to avoidance, but rather longing. _

_And then you left, leaving me nothing but a folded up note as you ran from me, tears streaming down your face. _

_Why did you leave, when you knew that I would have stayed by your side?_

_Love,_

_Harris_

* * *

_Dear Harris,_

_ Annaline is beautiful. How I wish you could see her._

_I left not because of you, but for you. I did not want the town to know of your shame._

_Can you imagine what they would say, if they knew of our secret?_

_My father would have you fired and sent away, and I would have pined away in loneliness even more than I am doing now. _

_Please do not misunderstand me. _

_I want you to meet her; I want you to be the wonderful father to her that I know you will be._

_But I must wait._

_It's only been a year since my departure, and I am only eighteen._

_On the year of my nineteenth birthday, I will return to the town, with our daughter in tow._

_I will tell the town that I was once married, but divorced when the marriage went sour._

_Then I can be with you, and no one will ever know of that night. No one will ever be able to accuse you of breaking the very laws you enforce._

_I need you to wait for me. I need you to be strong, and to continue to protect the town, looking over my parents in particular. _

_My leaving broke many hearts, not just yours._

_Can you do this for me?_

_Love,_

_Aja_

* * *

_Darling Aja,_

_ I would wait a thousand years for you to come back. _

_As much as you wish to hide my mistake, I feel it unnecessary. _

_Annaline-what a beautiful name, Annaline!- is my daughter. I would like to truly be able to call her my own child, regardless of what consequences may come. _

_Once, I thought that my job was my life._

_I went out of my way to everything I could to monitor the town, never straying from the path given to me, never erring in my patrols._

_And then I met you._

_So breathtaking, so beautiful, so lively._

_My Aja._

_You gave me a reason to wake up in the mornings. _

_My routine, once so monotonous and dull, was finally filled with a sort of eagerness._

_An eagerness to see you. _

_I don't care what the rest of the town says._

_I don't care if your father and mother never accept me being with you._

_Just come back to me. _

_Come home, Aja, where you belong. _

_I'll be waiting by the dock for you until you do._

_Love always,_

_Harris_

* * *

He'd waited weeks, after sending that letter. When he got no reply, he had hoped she was on her way back. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and soon Harris was beginning to despair that she'd completely given up on ever coming back, on even answering him.

Still, he waited every day at the dock.

Finally, on the first day of spring the boat came in, with two passengers on board. Harris watched as a young, slim woman with long black hair stepped off the boat carefully, looking around.

When she saw Harris, she turned to the boat and said something. A little girl stepped out uncertainly, before her eyes locked on him.

"Daddy?"

* * *

**It was actually kind of fun to write this one…I've yet to really do letters when I write, so the idea seemed very romantic to me, even more so than having them be together in person. **

**I tried to add more of a plot besides just the romance and fluff though XD I hope it all makes sense when you read it! Anyways, keep on leaving requests : ) I really appreciate them! **

**Also, I was totally inspired today when I actually took up the game and finally got my character hitched to the doctor XD I've been trying to get her to marry with all of the bachelors at least once, since I've already gotten Cliff and Gray (and since there's no way I'm deleting my Gray file, I had to say good-bye to Cliff in order to make room for Trent...but it's totally worth it) XD**


	8. Practice Makes Perfect

Mary looked up, surprised when the door chimed to the library and she saw Popuri standing in place of where Gray normally would be.

"Um…can I help you?" the librarian asked, wondering why someone as dim witted as the pink haired chicken keeper would be in a place with so much knowledge.

The girl shrugged and looked around.

"Well, I'm looking for a romance novel." She said, and Mary tried not to give her an incredulous look as she said, "A romance novel?"

Popuri put her hands on her hips and sashayed towards the nearest bookshelf.

"Yeah, a romance novel. I was hoping it would give me some ideas with…well…"

Mary smirked, knowing full well who Popuri was talking about.

"Kai?"

The pink haired girl turned bright red. With a flounce, she began carefully observing the books.

"Oh come off of it, Mary. You can't act like you know me and my life," she pouted, running her fingers across the books spines while she looked at titles.

Mary, from her desk, rolled her eyes.

"I don't have to act like it-I hear all about your life and everyone else's from my mother every night at the dinner table. Not to mention that I've known you practically my whole life."

Popuri stopped to think about this, wrapping one of her many curls around her index finger.

"That's right, isn't it?" she mused, pulling and tugging at the strand of pink hair. "We HAVE known each other for all our lives…and that would mean that you're still single as ever, right?"

Mary flushed at this comment, and crossed her arms. With a sigh, she walked over to where Popuri was and said, "We don't have any romance books here. My dad doesn't really write that kind of thing."

Popuri's face fell at this, and she dropped hand to her skirt, grabbing its material roughly in her hand.

"How disappointing!" she whined, before turning to the librarian. "Don't YOU write anything?"

At the mention of writing, Mary froze and suddenly retreated back into her bashful shell.

"Well…maybe I'm writing a romance story," Mary said shyly, and Popuri looked at her, surprised.

"Really? What's it about?" she asked eagerly, and Mary looked up with a blush, surprised that the girl was even interested in something written by someone who had never even had a love life of her own.

Mary shrugged, not really sure of how to express herself. "It's just a romance novel. But I'm having trouble with it…I mean, you would know. I am as single as ever," Mary laughed ruefully.

Popuri hesitated for a second, then said, "Let me see it."

The librarian looked up, confused until the pink haired girl repeated herself once more.

"Let me see it. I wanna see what you wrote."

Mary hesitated, then walked over to the door, locking it. As she turned around, she went back to her desk and brought out a notebook that looked well-worn, pages sticking out here and there with her neat handwriting on them.

"I don't want anyone else to know about it…" she said shyly, holding out her notebook.

Popuri took it and leafed through it, reading snippets of the story. While Mary waited, she watched the girl anxiously, hoping that her work would be well received.

To her surprise, the pink haired girl's face lit up, and she clutched the book to her chest and twirled around happily.

"I've only read part of it, but it just seems too romantic to bear! Mary," and she turned to the librarian," You HAVE to finish it. Or at least tell me where the kissing scenes are."

Mary blushed at her last words and looked at the ground bashfully.

"There are no kissing scenes," she said flatly, and Popuri looked at her in shock.

"No kissing scenes?! But then you can't finish it, there HAS to be romantic moments in there too other than just hinting at it! Why aren't there any?" Popuri demanded.

Shrugging, Mary looked down at her feet and observed them carefully.

"Well, I don't know what it feels like to kiss or do any of that stuff, so I can't write about it…" she looked up and saw that Popuri was thinking about it carefully. To her surprise, the girl looked up at her with a naughty grin.

"Want to try?"

Mary turned pink with shock and began to stutter.

"Wha-wha-wha-wha-" Mary stuttered, grabbing at the desk behind her for support.

Popuri shrugged.

"Well, I want to practice kissing so I can kiss Kai. And you don't know what kissing feels like, but you want to do it for your novel, right? So why shouldn't we? No one will ever know."

After a minute, Mary cleared her throat and nodded, edging closer to the pretty girl.

The two of them stared at each other as they leaned in, before Mary muttered, "C-close your eyes."

Quietly, Popuri obeyed and Mary leaned in and slowly pressed her lips against the other girl's.

Both girls were surprised when they found themselves enjoying the kiss more than they had anticipated.

Eagerly, Mary pushed against Popuri, who gave a small moan as the two of them fell back into one of the bookshelves.

Awkwardly, the two broke apart as books fell around them after being bumped off the shelf by the two girls' frantic actions.

Blushing, the two of them scrambled away from each other to pick up books, and Mary took her notebook and retreated back to her desk.

"I…I think I have an idea of where to go now," Mary said, avoiding looking at Popuri, who was blushing and tugging at her skirt.

"Me…me too. But," Popuri looked away as Mary's gaze fell on the pink-haired girl. "I think there are still a few things that I want to experiment before I go to Kai…would you mind…"

Mary felt a blush creeping over her cheeks, and she walked over to Popuri.

"Yeah?" she asked, watching as Popuri's face became the same shade of pink as her hair.

"Would you mind…well…helping me out with that?" Popuri finished off weakly.

Mary smiled, and leaned in to meet the other girl's lips once more.

* * *

**I nearly wrote myself into a corner with this one; I wasn't really sure how I was going to end it when I started out with them practically hating each other. But I guess things turned out okay since I managed to fix it by the time I was through : )**


	9. If Only You Knew

Goddess, how he'd waited for this moment.

Every day, he'd watched her as she walked past the winery, waving at him cheerfully on her way to the inn.

Every day, he'd watched her as she talked to Carter happily, waving at him as she left to go back home.

Every day, he'd watched her come into his room to talk to Gray and wave at him when she left.

This time, she wouldn't just wave at him.

She'd see him-she'd see him and realize that she'd made a mistake in passing him over.

It was dark, when he walked over to her house on spring thanksgiving. He'd worked all day, and had still somehow managed to find time to make her cookies.

While he stood in front of her door, he gathered all his courage and knocked.

No answer.

Steeling up his nerves again, he knocked once more, this time a little more firmly.

Still, there was no answer from the little dark house.

Bewildered, he looked around at her field, wondering where she could have possibly been so late at night.

As he wandered around her field, he heard a light sigh come from behind a rather large tree stump.

Rounding it, he saw something that caused him to blush.

Claire sat with her back against the stump, sound asleep. Her blonde hair fell around her sleeping face, and one of the straps of her overalls had fallen off as she slept. Her puppy whined and scratched at her feet, trying to wake her up but to no avail.

Cliff knew he couldn't just leave her there. With a sigh, he picked her up, surprised when he found that she barely weighed anything at all.

_What does this girl EAT?_ He wondered as he carried her over to her house, kicking open the door and setting her down on her bed.

For a few minutes, he watched her sleeping peacefully before he realized how extremely creepy it was to do so.

Blushing, he backed up and nearly broke her poor excuse of a table.

"Shit," he mumbled, fumbling to straighten it out while Claire murmured something in her sleep and turned over, her dirty overalls staining her sheets.

Cliff looked at her, then slowly put his hand in his pocket, taking out the cookies that he'd carefully wrapped and setting them on her table.

For a brief moment, he entertained the thought of leaving her a note with it, but then tossed that idea aside, realizing she probably wouldn't be able to understand his chicken scratch anyways.

He walked over to her bedside again to look at her sleeping form.

_She sleeps so peacefully,_ Cliff thought, reaching out a hand to untangle her blonde hair gently. As he ran his fingers through her hair, he wondered at how soft it was.

Claire turned over again in her sleep and muttered, "Gray…" softly.

Cliff frowned, not liking that she was dreaming of someone else.

"Don't look at anyone but me, Claire," he said, leaning down and slowly bringing his lips to her, brushing against them gently.

He kissed her slowly, pressing into her and enjoying the cool feel of her lips against his.

"If only you knew…" he murmured into her skin, kissing her cheek lightly and then trailing down to her neck, putting on hand on one side of her to hold himself up.

She seemed to respond back, despite being asleep. As she shifted more in her sleep, she inhaled sharply, her body seeming to mold to Cliff's as he pressed against her, savoring the moment.

Leaning closer, he kissed her once more, deeply, and she tilted her head to deepen the kiss while Cliff slowly slid one hand down to hold hers, intertwining her fingers with his.

He broke off slowly, breathing gently on her face as he lifted himself off her and blushed, realizing what he'd done.

Not that he regretted it.

With a smile, he walked to the door and left, glancing back one last time and the sleeping girl.

"Wait for me, Claire," he whispered at her, "I'm coming for you."

* * *

**Haha oh Cliff, you silly boy. XD**

**So, I finished the other requests as well, but I just HAD to put this one in as a couple as a tribute to Cliff as he was my first husband ever on the first harvest moon game I ever own. **

**Also, I figured putting one slash chapter right after the other might lessen the variety of the couples that I've written, so I might try and put a boy/girl couple in between every girl/girl or boy/boy couple. **


	10. The Botanist

"Come on, Trent, one night!" Basil pleaded with his old friend, watching as the doctor gave a small, tired sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Basil," Trent said flatly, "Shut up. I'm trying to concentrate here."

The botanist persisted, ignoring his friend's cold attitude.

"You never hang out with anyone anymore. Come on, old man, get out of this place and come have some wine with me! We used to have so much fun when we were younger, can't you be that way now?"

The doctor gave his friend a stern look and sighed again.

"Basil, that was years ago-before you married and had a kid and before I became a practicing doctor…"

Basil leaned against the doctor's desk and winked, his next words sending a small quiver through Trent.

"Yeah years ago…back when you-"

Trent coughed loudly to interrupt his friend and stood up, walking out of his office briskly to where he knew Elli was pretending not to listen from her desk.

"Elli," he said curtly, causing the pretty young nurse to jump. "Go home early today. I can finish up anything here."

Elli smiled shyly and nodded, before packing up her things and leaving to go home. After shutting the door behind her and ensuring it was locked, Trent gave a sigh.

He was about to turn back to his friend when he felt Basil's cool breath on his neck.

"We used to have LOTS of fun back then, didn't we, Trent?" Basil whispered, causing Trent to shiver.

"St…stop that," the doctor managed to say, and Basil laughed, stepping back and allowing him to turn around.

"Can you imagine what Anna would do if she found out about it?" Trent said worriedly, and Basil rolled his eyes.

"She's such a gossip; I swear. You know just as well as I do that I only married her because Carter would never let me marry YOU." Basil smiled, reaching up to take off his hat and letting it drop to the floor.

"Now Basil," the doctor warned as he was backed into a corner. "We can't…we can't do this," his voice broke as Basil kissed the base of his neck and looked up at him.

"Oh? We CAN'T? Or we SHOULDN'T? There's a difference there you know," Basil teased, causing Trent to flush and look away.

"Get off, Basil," The doctor said weakly, making no attempt to push off his old friend as Basil began to kiss him.

The botanist laughed as he pulled back and saw Trent's embarrassed face.

"Maybe if I get you drunk again like I did so long ago, I'll have the same pleasure as I did that night," Basil murmured into the doctor's coat, causing Trent to burn even more.

"That was a long time ago okay? We were just stupid, and young, and besides that we shouldn't even be doing this…" Trent was interrupted again as Basil kissed him passionately.

"Doing what?" Basil asked with a mischievous grin, cocking one eyebrow at his friend. "I don't know, but you seem to be enjoying yourself quite a bit," he said, slowly peeling off the white doctor's coat that covered his friend.

As he did so, neither of the noticed the door open just a crack.

"He did WHAT?" Sasha and Manna asked while Anna sat and sobbed at her kitchen table.

The beautiful woman nodded and cried even harder.

"I saw him, last night! He was with…he was with TRENT of all people…" Just remembering had Anna in near hysterics.

The other two women looked at her sympathetically and began patting their friend on the back.

"Oh honey, what a jerk," Sasha said consoling her friend while Manna ranted on in the background about how all men were terrible, terrible human beings.

Anna straightened up and nodded resolutely.

"Mary must never know of this," she said, dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief. "At least he's only cheating on me with one person, and it's a man. No matter how revolting it is, at least he isn't with another woman."

Sasha and Manna both nodded, and continued to console her.

"Dear GODDESS this can't be happening," Trent whispered as he watched through the crack in the door as Basil all but seduced Jeff the same way he'd seduced Trent the night before.

"I knew it," he growled, and bursting through the door he cried, "BASIL YOU WHORE!"

Basil looked up and seeing Trent, walked over and firmly shut the supermarket door.

"Now Trent," the botanist cooed, "You're just on time. After all," and here Basil grinned, "Three is better than two, no?"

* * *

**For the record, Basil is probably not a whore but I totally wanted someone to say that line because after all, he IS cheating on his wife who he lives with. With Lillia it was at least a little more understandable because Rod wasn't there, but Basil lives with Anna and he like never leaves the house except for to go drink at night and when he goes to the mountain on Monday, and even then he's still with her. XD**

**Okay, attempt at explanation done XD**

**Leave more requests : ) I'd be happy to work on them! If I don't get any, I'll probably start on another standard couple one, like Claire and…Kai. I haven't done one with her and Kai yet. Or even with Rick. **

**Alright, done rambling XD I hope you enjoyed them, and look forward to more soon!**


	11. New Things

Anna sighed as she watched her husband pace back and forth, muttering to himself. When he didn't notice, she sighed even louder, this time throwing up her hands as if to emphasize it.

She wasn't all too surprised when he didn't respond, only continuing to pace back and forth while he mumbled about leaves on some tree he'd found on their Monday outing.

The beautiful woman looked up at the clock to find that it was finally time for her to go out.

"Bye, dear," she said as she walked past him, hoping to get a response.

Her efforts were futile as he didn't even bother to wave but continued to think to himself.

* * *

"SASHAAAAA," Anna wailed, throwing herself on her friend. It was a Saturday, and Saturdays left the supermarket owner's wife and the botanist's wife together alone, away from their friend Manna.

The three girls had all gone to school together since they were young, but Sasha and Anna were particularly close as they had been roommates throughout college.

With a gentle smile, Sasha petted her friend on the head and clucked, "Now tell me what's wrong, Anna. It can't be that husband of yours again, can it?"

Sniffling, Anna nodded into her friend's dress and Sasha pulled her back to look at her firmly.

"Now Anna, have you TRIED what we discussed last Saturday?" the blonde said, looking at her friend sternly.

Anna nodded again and wiped at her eyes.

"I tried ignoring him and it didn't work! He's as distant as ever!" Anna complained, whining to her friend.

Sasha frowned at this and patted her friend on the head once more.

"Don't worry! I've got another plan-remember how you hooked him in the first place?"

Anna looked up in surprise to see the blonde wink at her mischeviously.

Bringing her hands up to her mouth, Anna said, "You don't mean…you still HAVE those? What do you DO with them?"

Sasha laughed, throwing her head back as she did so.

"What you're supposed to do with things like those. How do you think I keep Jeff interested? He worries all the time and hardly pays attention to me but…I have my ways. And you do to," she said pointedly, winking at her friend who blushed.

"Oh Sasha, I haven't…I couldn't…" Anna muttered, and Sasha shrugged.

"If you want him to pay attention to you, it's your best shot."

* * *

That night at the bar, Basil seemed to be down. His friend Jeff who also drank sidled up to his table and said, "Basil? What's wrong?" Basil gave a long sigh, sinking down to rest his head between his hands.

"It's Anna," he groaned, and Jeff sat down, patting his friend's back sympathetically.

"What wrong, Basil?" the smaller man asked, and the botanist looked up, playing with his wine glass.

"She…she's been ignoring me. And I feel terrible because I just know I've done something wrong but I can't figure out what it is!"

Jeff pondered for a minute while Basil drank. His next words nearly caused Basil to choke on his wine.

"Have you touched her lately?" his friend asked thoughtfully, while Basil coughed and hacked, setting down his cup firmly.

"What?" Basil managed to cough out, and Jeff shrugged.

"Well, Sasha always tells me that sometimes I just don't pay enough attention to her and treat her like a wife, so I just sort of…well fix the problem if you know what I mean."

Basil turned a bright red and looked at his wine glass.

"I…I haven't….now I feel kind of bad. I think I've made her feel unwanted…" Basil said guiltily, and Jeff patted him on the back once more.

"You know what you have to do, right?"

Nodding in response to his friend's question, Basil downed the rest of his wine and stood up, striding purposefully out of the inn.

* * *

"Anna I'm ho-" Basil froze as he saw a figure in the dark lounging across the kitchen counter.

As the moon rose, he saw that it was his wife, scantily clad in lacy, frilly undergarments.

"A-anna?" he managed to choke out as she got up and swayed over to him, running her hands across his chest and going around to his back.

"Why don't you pay attention to me sometime?" she whispered in his ear, causing a shiver to go down his spine.  
"Uh…" Basil found himself unable to say anything coherent as he felt her hands go down and he froze.

Anna was about to say something more when she found herself slammed onto the kitchen counter, her husband kissing her and pressing her onto the surface.

Mentally, she was about to congratulate herself when Basil pulled back and apologized.

"Anna, I'm sorry if I've been a bad husband," he whispered, not wanting to wake their daughter who was just up the stairs asleep. "I don't mean to be…I just get so interested in new things …"

Anna pursed her lips, deliberating whether or not to be angry at him for admitting his work appeared to be more interesting than she did; after all, it had been his perseverance at his job which had first endeared him to her.

Deciding do forgive him, she led his hand down to her bare thigh, laughing inwardly when he blushed, seeming unsure of what to do.

"Well," she said in his ear, taking pleasure in the fact that he was pressed tightly against her, "I think I have some new things that just might interest you."

* * *

** Theirs is a relationship I can never really see being all too serious and lovey-dovey XD After all Anna likes to gossip and doesn't even like flowers (I tried giving her one once and she was like 'ew') and Basil...well he's like, OBSESSED with flowers and stuff. So that's kind of a comic base to begin with, considering they're virtually opposites. **

**Anyways hope you enjoyed it :) **


	12. Masquerade

"Goddess, Manna, will you SHUT UP?!" Duke roared as he sat with his back to the wall, massaging his temples.

Manna frowned at this and began to lecture him again.

"Duke, this is the THIRD SEASON we've had to compensate for YOUR bill at the supermarket…will you just TELL me what it is that you purchased that was so expensive it ran the bill for three seasons straight?"

Duke growled and looked away.

"Don't bother worrying about it-it's my own secret. Now please Manna, move out of the way so I can go drink."

Manna stood in front of the door, blocking it defiantly.

"Oh no you don't, not tonight," she warned, pointing a finger at him. "You and I are going to sit down and talk about this. This is the exact kind of behavior that I'm sure drove Aja away. I just know it."

Duke glared at the tiny woman who stood just a head shorter than him.

"That was not why Aja ran away and you know it," he snapped, feeling slightly guilty when his wife's face fell at his attitude.

"Look, I'm sorry...Manna, I just need to relax okay?" he said, gently putting his hands on her shoulders.

Duke felt ten times worse when Manna stared sadly at the floor, her petite body seeming to shy away from his touch as she walked to the corner and hunched over as if she was trying to make herself smaller.

"Why can't you ever relax with me?" she asked in a soft, sad voice, and Duke bolted out the door before she could guilt him any longer.

* * *

Duke was sitting at the inn, regretting the way he'd been acting lately when he saw the new farmer girl walk in. What was her name? Clara…no that wasn't it…Clarice…ah! Claire. Claire was her name.

Someone who didn't know the intimate details of his life was exactly who Duke needed to talk to right now. On top of that, the farmer didn't seem to be the type that would go around divulging secrets, and Duke had a pretty big secret to tell.

* * *

"So…your daughter ran away to go live her own life independently because you two were 'holding her back', you drink every night instead of spending it with your wife, and you ran up an enormous amount of money at the supermarket because you had Jeff order your wife an expensive ring in order to make her feel better for your daughter leaving and your drinking?"

Duke winced as Claire hit everything on the nail, despite the fact that he'd only given her a few details of his situation. Downing the last of his wine, he sat back and sighed.  
"Yeah, that's about the gist of it," he mumbled, massaging the bridge of his nose as if it would prevent him from getting a headache.

Claire leaned back and thought quietly for all of a second.

"Why not just GIVE HER the ring? Explain everything. She's your wife, she must love you." Claire reasoned, and Duke looked at his wineglass sadly.

"It's not that easy…"

He was surprised when Claire smacked him.

It wasn't that it was painful; what surprised him were the words that followed.

"Don't act like it's the hardest thing in the world. If you love her, then PROVE it." With that, the blonde sauntered out of the inn, leaving Duke to wallow in the realization that he'd been avoiding the confrontation for so long.

* * *

"Manna…I'm home," Duke said quietly. When there was no answer, he wasn't surprised.

Walking upstairs, he didn't turn on the light but looked in on the dark room to find Manna asleep on Aja's bed, the same place she fell asleep every night after crying.

Normally, he would've let her be and just gone to their bed, slipping into his side quietly and falling asleep.

But Claire's words had got to him; he knew that he had to make things right.

Picking his wife up gently, he laid her on the bed and looked down at her, stroking her hair softly. As he reached down to cradle her hand, he slipped the exquisite ring on her finger and tucked her into bed before getting in himself.

It had been all too long since they'd slept in the same bed together, and Duke could feel himself drawn to her, reaching his arm around to wrap it around her waist and bring her close to him.

While he lay there in silence, Manna moved, speaking in her sleep as she did so.

"Duke…" she murmured, snuggling up to him.

Silent tears ran down his face as he realized the true meaning of how dedicated a wife can be. How loving.

Despite all he'd put her through, despite everything he'd ever done to her or every problem he'd pushed on her…she still loved him.

Pulling her closer, he kissed her gently and pushed her hair out of her face, watching as her expression turned from troubled to peaceful.

How he regretted those nights he'd let her sleep by herself in his daughter's abandoned bed.

* * *

He got up early, the way he always did.

As he prepared himself for the day, he looked down at his fragile wife and leaned down, kissing her on the forehead and smoothing the covers over her protectively.

"I'm so sorry, Manna," he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers. "I'm so sorry for putting you through all of this; and I'm so sorry you have to go throughout your day pretending everything is right. I'll fix it.

You won't have to pretend anymore."

* * *

**So granted I didn't explore their drama too much and tried my best to emphasize it, making their whole situation slightly more realistic. To me, Manna appears to be very talkative and trusting and just a gossip but I feel like she's putting that up as a front to make it seem like her home life is still okay, despite having a husband who drinks every night and runs up bills, and a daughter who ran away. **

**And Duke, in all his carefree-ness, is just putting up a mask of sorts too. I mean, there's no way that someone with as much debt as he's supposed to have could realistically be that nonchalant about things. Also, having your only child, a daughter at that, abandon you is a hard thing as well. **

**So they pretend, as do so many other people.**

**Hope that makes some sense XD Either way, I didn't want this to be a sappy kind of romance, nor a lustful one. I wanted this to be a deeper kind of love, the kind of love that goes through trials and masquerades but in the end is still genuine.**

**Okay, done rambling with my ideals of love XD**

**Remember to leave requests! 3 Thanks for reading!**


	13. That Time of the Year

"You just wouldn't believe-"

"Oh the scandal-"

"But I thought that he was-?"  
"No darling, you're thinking of the wrong person-"

"Sasha? Sasha, are you alright?"

The blonde woman blinked as her friend Manna shook her. Their usual gossip hour was going on as it always did; except today, Sasha wasn't contributing as she usually did.

Sasha opened her mouth to stop her friend from worrying when Anna giggled, putting a hand up to her mouth to cover it as she laughed. The other two women looked at her as she continued to snicker until she calmed herself and smoothed out her skirt.

"Sasha, you were thinking about how you met Jeff, weren't you?" Anna asked slyly, causing Sasha to heat up and Manna to smirk at her friend.

"Oh hush, it's just that time of year, that's all," Sasha said weakly as her friend began tittering loudly.

"Every year around your anniversary you get like this. Really dear, you're getting predictable," Anna chortled, and Sasha blushed, clutching at her skirt.

"Well, it's rather hard to forget a meeting like that, don't you think?" Sasha demanded, causing her friends to smile at her understandingly.

"All too true," Manna said, as they began to talk about that.

"He was what, four feet tall?" Manna smirked at Sasha, who pouted and denied it.

"No, he was most definitely four…four nine," she said uncertainly, a blush rising to her cheeks as her friends exchanged gleeful looks before continuing.

"Anyways, he was so nerdy back then!"

"Do you remember that-"

"Oh, that awful bowtie he wore!"

The two women glanced at their silent friend, who dug her toe into the ground and muttered, "Bowties are cute…"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Honey, bow ties are cute when they're not an ugly olive color that doesn't even match the shirt."

Turning back to Manna, the botanist's wife cleared her throat and the two continued their conversation.

"It was what, that Halloween party?"

"Oh yes! And we decided to go as…what were we again?"

"Not bunnies-"

"No, that was the year before that one…"

"Charlie's angels," Sasha interrupted, and the two women nodded at each other as they remembered she was correct.

"How funny, that he had the courage to approach you-"

"The way you snubbed him off at first, pretending you didn't like him only to cry to us later about it!"

"And then that night when he ended up climbing into your dorm room, since Anna was staying in his with Basil…"

Anna blushed and Manna smacked her playfully, and Sasha blushed harder than ever when the two leaned in, giving her knowing looks.

"So was he a good kisser?" Anna asked, and Sasha grinned at her friend.

"That's not all he was good at."

* * *

**So a bit shorter than usual and maybe not quite as fluffy as it should be-apologies XD I worked late last night and ended up closing there, so I was tired when I sat down and churned this out. :(**

**Hopefully this next one that I wrote awhile back will make up for it XD **


	14. Love

Claire's_ POV_

I thought that if I erased the word love I wouldn't have to deal with this kind of thing anymore.

What's he thinking of right now?  
No wait. Better question.

Why am I thinking of him right now?

It's nearly agonizing to be like this; I haven't felt anything for so long other than the raw pain of working on a field.

There's something absolutely amazing about only being able to feel callouses on your body, rather than on your heart.

It's a freeing feeling really, not having to rely on anyone else ever but yourself. You'll never be let down, you'll never worry about whether or not anyone cares.

Because you're taking care of no one but YOU. And no one but you cares.

Pfft. Who am I fooling though?

I'm sitting outside the blacksmith's as I watch him run towards his house down the path.

He's every bit as graceful as I am; which means he isn't graceful in the least.

Tall, lanky, awkward Rick.

Of all people, did I really have to fall for him?

* * *

_Rick's POV_

Love is pure hearted and wonderful. I learned that long ago when I watched the way my parents looked at each other.

It's something intangible, something that can only be felt with the heart.

And it's beautiful; absolutely beautiful.

The only thing that could possibly make it any better is if who you love, loves you in return.

Not that I'd ever know, or have the courage to find out.

While I think this, I come around the corner and catch a glimpse of blonde hair.

Ah. There she is.

She's sitting on the gate near the blacksmith's as she does every morning, looking off into the distance with that stoic expression of hers.

As stoic as she is, I love her still.

It's probably because I've seen her smile.

It's a rare thing, that smile of hers; nothing could ever compare to it. Seeing a smile from Claire is like watching the sun come out from behind the clouds.

Not that I could ever tell her that though, since someone like her would never look twice at a guy like me.

We're so very different, Claire and I.

Perhaps that's what draws me the most to her.

* * *

_Claire's POV_

I'm surprised that he doesn't rush into his house like he does every morning, but he comes up to me instead.

"Hey Claire," he says, trying for casual and failing miserably as he goes to lean against the gate and completely misses it, falling down.

Somehow, I find it endearing. Whoa. Did I really just think that to myself?

Calm down Claire. You've gotten this far without messing up…you don't want to go and experience trouble again now that you're finally okay.

As if oblivious to my stone cold manner, Rick gets up and dusts himself off before looking at my feet.

"So uh…" he begins, "Do you want to hang out today or something?"

When I stare at him incredulously , he begins to freak out, which I secretly find hilarious and adorable, all at the same time.

"Not that you have to or anything, it's just my free day and since I don't have to take care of the chickens I-"

I tune him out and watch as he starts to turn bright red while he waves his hands around, trying to explain something to me.

I smile.

* * *

_Rick's POV_

She's smiling at me. Oh Goddess, she's SMILING at ME.

Before I can even process it, she's hopped off the fence, merely holding her hand out to me.

I don't think twice about this; it feels so natural for her small, soft hand to fit in mine as I fall quiet and walk with her towards the woods.

When we get to the woods, the two of us sit quietly and stare up at the large trees, taking in the silence.

Suddenly, I'm really glad I decided to ask her to spend time with me.

"Rick…" she begins, and I look at her, surprised she's even speaking to me. "Do you believe in love?"

I freeze and hope that the blush burning on my cheeks isn't as obvious as I think it is.

"Well…yes. Very much so, actually," I cough, sneaking a peek at her out of the corner of my eye.

My heart nearly breaks at the wretched expression on her face.

"I don't." she says quietly. "I don't believe in love…but it doesn't mean I don't feel it."

She looks up, her eyes meeting mine.

"Explain this to me Rick; why does someone as comforting and caring as you, manage to reach out and touch someone as cold and indifferent as me?"

Shaking my head, I squeeze her hand.

"You're not as cold as you'd like to think you are Claire. Sure, you're quiet. And sure, you don't deal with people's crap; which is by far one of your best qualities. But I've seen your expression. You DO care. You just don't express it like other people…and that's what makes you so strong…so different…"

I find myself staring into her eyes, two twin lakes of sapphire blue, so pure that I can see myself reflected back in them.

"Claire," I say shakily, before she leans up smoothly to press her lips against mine.

* * *

_Claire's POV_

I never thought I'd be doing this kind of thing again, but here I am, sitting in the middle of the woods with this boy I've known for all of a year.

An awkward, gangly boy who is overly attached to his sister and talks of nothing but eggs, and chickens and how much he detests said sister's boyfriend.

Who am I kidding?

Those flaws are what make him so special to me.

No one else ever lets me see through, showing that they have flaws also. Everyone else in this town acts like they're just so perfect and kind and caring…with a few exceptions of course, Rick being one of them.

But he's genuine-pure in a way that I have never been, nor ever really gotten the chance to be.

I don't really want to taint him, but I can't seem to find the willpower to draw myself away regardless of that.

Besides; he doesn't seem to mind that I've kissed him at all. He's leaned in to deepen the kiss, responding to my actions by bringing up a hand to my head, running his fingers through my hair and pulling me even closer than I already am.

Something tells me I might have to change my ideals about love if I want this to work out.

And I most definitely want, if not need this to work out.

Somehow, I've found something I never really thought I would ever find again; love.

This time, I'm not letting go.

* * *

**And here's the irony: as much as I love Rick in this story, and the other one I've been working on, I absolutely abhor him in the game. It's not even really HIM I hate-it's just that all he ever talks to you about are chickens, eggs, and how much he hates Kai. Although I have to admit, his rage face is by far the funniest thing I've ever seen in that game. Hilarious XD**

**Anyways, go ahead and leave requests! You don't have to have an account to leave one either, and I would love to have more to work on while I get started on the Jack/Trent one that Accidentally the Whole Fanfic asked for. **

**Stay tuned :) **


	15. Oblivious

_Jack's POV_

I sit there and watch him as I step carefully into the lobby of the clinic.

"Hey Elli," I say casually, walking towards the office with a wave. The pretty nurse just smiles back gently at me and continues shuffling the papers on her desk.

Continuing on past her desk, I take a deep breath before I push open the door to the office. The person sitting at the desk doesn't even bother to look up as I enter quietly, shutting the door behind me.

"Hello?" I say, unsure as to if I'm bothering the doctor or not. The man gives a grunt of acknowledgement, holding up a finger to tell me I should wait.

While he scribbles furiously on a piece of paper and mutters to himself, a small crease appears between his eyes. I find myself thinking it's rather cute.

Finally, he looks up at me, surprised to see me there.

"Oh, Jack!" the doctor says, a happy smile spreading across his normally calm, collected face. "Have you been standing there for long?"

I grin happily, scuffing my feet on the floor and putting my hands behind my back.

"Not terribly long, Trent. Besides, I could tell you were busy. Have you come up with another new medicine?"

Trent nods enthusiastically before rummaging around in his desk and motioning me closer. I walk up and watch as he produces a pink colored fluid that emanates a smell that can only be politely called, "terrible."

Handing it to me, he smiles. "I hope it works," he frets, and I grin before shrugging.

"Guess we'll find out. Bottoms up!"

I nearly gag at the taste, and grin wobbily at Trent, who stands up in alarm.

"Jack?" he asks, sounding scared as I crash to the ground.

* * *

When I wake up, I'm surprised to see I'm in a hospital bed, Trent sitting next to me with a look of regret on his face.

"I shouldn't have made you drink that," he mumbles, taking my hand and squeezing it. I give a weak laugh and try to sit up.

"Nah, I never should have said yes to someone as crazy as you to begin with," I joke, happy when the doctor smiles at my antics and the worried look leaves his face, if only for a second.

"Stop it, Jack," he says, going to pull his hand away. I stop him though, looking up at him.

"No," I say quietly and I lean down to kiss his hand, looking up to see him blush as I do so.

"J-jack?" the normally stoic doctor stutters out, and I smile gently and raise my hand up to cradle his face.

"You worry too much," I whisper, sliding up to kiss him.

I'm surprised when he doesn't pull away in shock but kisses me back. He breaks off though, and looks at me with remorse.

"Jack, I'm sorry for putting you in danger," he cries, but I just laugh it off and hug him.

"It doesn't matter. But," and I grin at him, "If you're really sorry I know a way you can make up for it."

Trent looks confused until my lips crash into his once more.

* * *

As we finish our kissing, Trent slides down to rest his head on my chest.

"Never thought that would happen, actually," Trent admits, and I laugh quietly, brushing his hair out of his face.

"You don't think enough about me," I scold mockingly and it's his turn to laugh as he hugs me closer.

That's the way we fall asleep; holding each other closely, not caring what will happen when Elli finds us in the morning.

* * *

**Hahaha I thought I'd clarify something for any readers who have gotten this far: I don't even ship all that much (when I do ship, I'm very particular about it, it has to either be like, dark link and link and it has to be well written) but for some reason I don't mind writing these because I see them as a challenge to my writing experience.**

**XD Not to say shipping is a bad thing, I just wanted to put that out there in case people were wondering. Either way, I like writing whatever requests come up, it's a lot of fun even if slash is still a bit new to me XD **

**Anyways, onto the next story!**


	16. Don't misunderstand me

Cliff sighed. This was the third time this week that he'd watched the little pink haired girl walk past him in the vineyard towards the inn.

He could have cared less, had this been a normal thing. But it was anything but normal for Popuri to be visiting Ann as frequently as she was now.

Sure, the two were best friends and Popuri would often hang out with her by the spring, but that didn't mean that it was suddenly okay for the girls to start hanging out every day, in Ann's room no less.

Cliff may have been new to the town, but he was smart enough to know that Popuri wouldn't be visiting Ann if things were okay. And things were most definitely not okay.

Just last night he'd heard Ann sobbing loudly about something while Popuri's voice could be heard murmuring comfortingly.

Shyness may have been one of Cliff's many traits, but another part of him was curious, and in the end his curiosity won out. Walking up to the fence that bordered his work, he leaned against it casually and watched as Popuri stepped on her skirt and nearly fell flat on her face. As she straightened up from her stumble, trying to look as if she hadn't tripped, Cliff called out to her.

"Hey," he said, unsure of how to really start a conversation with her. She froze as he called to her, then turned slowly around, making sure he was talking to her. When it became apparent that he was, she walked over to him carefully.

"Yes?" she asked, wondering what he could want, and Cliff sighed before rubbing the back of his head.

"Why are you visiting the inn so much?" he asked bluntly, inwardly wincing as he realized that once again he'd made the mistake of coming straight to the point when he should've sidled up to it.

Popuri gave him a fierce look and put her hands on her hips.  
"That's none of your business, Cliff," she admonished, and Cliff straightened up, a little hurt at her comment but wanting to pursue his questions anyways.

As Popuri walked off towards the inn, muttering to herself, he called after her, "What's wrong with Ann?"

When the girl froze, Cliff thought, _Bullseye._

Popuri turned around, her whole body shaking with some sort of rage that he couldn't identify. Especially considering it was coming from someone as friendly and bubbly as her.

"You! You…oh forget it! I can't take this anymore!" she growled, then marched up to where he stood and grabbed his shirt, pulling him in.

"Meet me tonight, in front of the lake at eight o'clock," she muttered in his ear, then let go and turned around swiftly, marching off towards the inn again.

Confused, Cliff watched her go, his heart pounding as he thought of how close his face had been to hers.

* * *

That night, when he walked up towards the lake he saw her already waiting for him. Jogging up to her, he tapped her lightly on the shoulder so as to not scare her.

"Hey," he said, and she turned around, her face illuminated by the moonlight.

Before she could say anything, Cliff looked down at her and asked, "Are you going to tell me what's wrong now?"

At his question, Popuri's face flamed with anger. "If you weren't so…so DENSE, poor Ann wouldn't have to suffer so much!" the pink haired girl raged.

Even more confused, Cliff stared at her blankly.

"What?" he asked, wondering what she meant.

With a huff, Popuri put her hands on her hips and began to lecture him.

"Haven't you noticed the way Ann looks at you, or always makes you food, or always wants to hang out with you? She LIKES you, you big dummy! But you've never even looked twice at her, and just the other day she overheard you talking to Gray about how you think she's a great girl but you've got your eye on someone else!"

While Cliff stared at her, she continued her rant.

"I know exactly who it is, and don't even think about going after Claire because she's perfectly happy with her husband, the doctor, and if you think you can just march into their lives and ruin it the way you've ruined Ann's I'll-"

Popuri found herself unable to finish her rant as Cliff chuckled. Before long, he was all out laughing, wiping tears from his eyes.

While she stared at him, unable to comprehend, he straightened up and cleared his throat.

"First off, I think you've got a few things mixed up. One, I am not going after Claire." Cliff snorted at the thought. "Second, I knew Ann liked me, but I always figured it was more of a friendship thing."

Cliff's face softened as he thought about the situation.

"I never meant to lead her on, but I meant what I said; I think she's a great girl. She's just…not the one for me."

Curiosity overwhelming her anger, Popuri looked up curiously at Cliff, not understanding the expression she saw on his face.

"Then…who do you like?" she asked, confused.

She was shocked when he leaned down to kiss her gently.

"It's you, Popuri," he said quietly to the blushing girl. While she stared at him, he cleared his throat gruffly and looked away, blushing furiously. "I've liked you since I've met you. No one else has ever really been able to stand my quiet self. I mean, sure there's Ann and Claire, but they lacked the one thing you had. You're so full of happiness, it's insane. Ann's optimistic, and Claire's tough, but there's something about you that's so pure it just radiates from your core. You're the only one who goes to church as much as I do, and every time you passed me, you didn't ignore me like most people would."

Popuri blinked, absorbing everything he'd said. She'd never heard Cliff say that much EVER, much less stuff like that. A blush slowly crept up again to her cheeks as she realized that instead of being mad that he'd kissed her, she was slightly pleased.

Tugging at his shirt, she caught his attention, as he drifted off into silence again.

"You really mean all that?" she asked quietly, and he smiled, smoothing her long hair with his large, calloused hands.

"Every word of it," he whispered in her ear, and the next thing he knew he was sent to the ground in a flying tackle as Popuri kissed him passionately.

As they lay on the ground, their lips parted then met again several times, and his hand found its way to the small of her back, stroking her softly.

After a blissful hour, the pink haired girl sat up and looked at the moon. Giving a small, sad smile, she turned to Cliff.

"So what do we tell Ann?"

* * *

**Not gonna lie...I kinda feel bad for Ann XD I mean, in some ways although Popuri and Cliff are totally adorable together, Ann's not only been rejected by the guy she liked but her supposed 'best friend' is the one who hooked him too XD**

**Then again, I'm probably only feeling this way cause I've had this sort of thing happen to me before XD Oh well, that's life I suppose. **

**Once again, leave requests : ) I don't care what characters you pair together, if you want I'll even write the same couple from a different angle.**

**As of now, the only one I have finished is another standard couple, Claire and Kai, and I'll be posting that tomorrow. Until then duckies!**


	17. Womanizer

"Some people just don't know how to have fun," Kai grumbled, setting his beer down with a loud clunk. Karen, his drinking buddy, laughed raucously and looked over at him.

"Done already?" she teased, and the sailor stuck his tongue out at her before taking another swig. When she saw that he was genuinely mad about something, she sobered up a bit and asked, "What's eating at you tonight anyways?"

Kai sighed. It was the same thing that ate at him every night since he'd met her, and it was particularly bad tonight as he was finally in the same town as her.

Claire.

She was only a few blocks away from the inn, living in that little rundown farm of hers and working her butt off to survive. She would definitely be asleep by now, probably exhausted at her day's work.

Karen bumped him, startling him out of his reverie. "Kai, seriously. You're acting like you've got a stick up your ass, so tell me what's wrong." The brunette rolled her eyes as Kai began to pout.

"I don't understand why Claire didn't want to come drink with me," he muttered, and Karen just sighed, taking another drink.

"You know how hard she's working. A hangover is definitely not what she needs right now," Karen said, and Kai grumbled, knowing she was right.

"Still….she never even looks at me," he frowned, and Karen began to smirk as she saw where the conversation was going.

"You're just mad because she hasn't fallen for you and you've already used every trick in the book," Karen snickered, causing Kai to glare at her.

Initially, it had been his goal to only flirt with her a little, and to get her to fall for him before he left.

It was all part of the great game of life; love was just playing it to the fullest.

In the end though, things hadn't quite worked out the way he planned.

Now, Claire still remained cold to him while he was the one who ended up dreaming of her each night, wanting so badly to just be with her.

With a shudder, Kai repressed the thought and stood up, putting his beer down. While Karen looked at him quizzically, he straightened up and headed for the door.

It was time to get some answers.

* * *

Claire sighed.

Kai was such an idiot to think that she could go drinking with him, especially right now when she needed to be in top form to harvest her crops and care for her animals. On top of that, she wasn't ready for him to know how she felt about him.

"What a womanizer," she muttered under breath, kicking at her bed.

She'd fallen for the biggest flirt on the face of planet Earth; just her luck. At least she hadn't let him know that he'd won. If he had the slightest clue that she actually liked him, the game would be over, and just like that he'd stop paying attention to her.

He'd just take her heart as another trophy and add it to his collection; she had no doubt about that.

While she thought of this, a knock sounded at her door.

Without thinking, she opened it up and was surprised to see Kai standing on her doorstep.  
"Kai?" She asked, wondering what he was doing there until he fell forward, face first into her.

Using all her strength, she pushed him off and watched as he fell over, asleep on his feet.

"What the hell," she muttered, watching as he rolled over and began to snore. With a sigh, she picked him up and dragged him into her house.

It was a good thing she'd just gotten a bigger bed.

* * *

Kai woke up feeling entirely too warm.

Groaning, he was about to stretch when he froze, realizing where he was.

He was in a bed, yes. But not just any bed.

Claire's bed.

And there she was, sleeping peacefully, curled up against his chest.

For a second he was confused until he realized that in his half drunken stupor he'd probably marched over to her house and fallen asleep. The farmer had probably dragged him onto her bed to let him rest and had fallen asleep herself, worn out from a good day's work.

Kai, though still too hot, made no effort to move away as Claire muttered something in her sleep and moved her arms so that they went around his stomach. As she buried her face into his chest, he thought he'd die of happiness.

_She's way too trusting,_ Kai thought to himself as he reached down to smooth out her blonde hair, which was tangled. _Way too trusting and WAY too cute._

The sailor found himself leaning in to stare at her face closer. Before he knew it, he'd leaned in to kiss her.

He was surprised when he pulled back and found she was awake.

* * *

Had Kai really just kissed her?

Claire blinked up at him, surprised that they were so close when the last thing she'd remembered was sitting down on her bed for a second to rest…

She was about to bolt up and move away when Kai grabbed her and held her close.

"Don't…don't move away," he muttered, sounding embarrassed.

She peeked up at him and was surprised to see he was blushing; an unusual thing for him.

"I don't think I ever told you this, but I think you're really cute…and by that, I think that I like you. As in…I actually kind of want to be with you in a way I've never been with anyone else…" he muttered, and Claire pushed him away for a second to look at him.

"You don't mean it, do you?" she asked, and was shocked when his face fell.

"You…don't believe me?" he said sadly, and Claire frowned.

"Well I would…if I hadn't heard you say something similar to Popuri last year when you were in town."

Kai growled in frustration then looked her right in the eye.

"Alright fine. Would you believe me if I just came out and said it?"

Claire froze, wondering what he meant.  
"What?" the farmer asked, and Kai blushed.

"I love you, Claire," he said, looking straight into her eyes without flinching.

* * *

**Why is he so hard to get? XD I just don't have enough patience I suppose, to wait for heart events and stuff with someone who's not even there half the time. **

**But I hoped you enjoyed my attempt on it anyways XD Onwards, to the next story!**


	18. Promise

"Hurry up," Stu giggled, waving his arm at May who struggled to keep up with him.

"Don't go so fast!" she cried, nearly tripping on her dress as she ran after him. Stu slowed, but only for a minute.

The two were SUPPOSED to be heading to the church for their bible lesson…but Stu had had other plans in mind. He'd run into May as she was headed towards the church and convinced her to go along with his plan, but she was starting to regret listening to him.

"Stu, where are we going?" she asked, finally reaching him. Stu smiled impishly at her and grabbed her hand, pulling her along so that she wouldn't fall behind again.

"You'll see!" he said, as the two headed past the poultry farm.

* * *

May watched nervously as Stu walked towards the cows that were grazing peacefully in the field.

"I don't think this is a good idea," she said, but Stu waved at her to be quiet and kept creeping towards the animals.

The two were on the new farmer's land; not that Claire was really all that new to the town, now that she'd been there for a year and a half and was married. Already she and her husband were expecting a baby.

As Stu edged towards the nearest cow, they heard the sound of a door being opened and the two friends looked at each other before Stu ran over to May, grabbing her hand and pulling her behind the barn.

The two peeked out to see the blonde farmer walk outside slowly, her stomach much bigger than it had been a few months ago.

"I wonder why Claire keeps getting bigger and bigger," May whispered, but Stu shushed her and the two watched as the farmer looked at her cows once before heading off towards town with a lunch basket, obviously on her way to deliver some food to her husband.

Once she was gone, Stu ran back out triumphantly and headed once more to the cows. The animals were surprisingly calm as he took a running leap and landed on one's back. He gave the cow a gentle kick and it gave a moo before walking off slowly.

"Come on May!" Stu shouted happily from his perch atop the cow, and May came out shyly, not wanting to be left out of the fun.

She ran over to where the cow had stopped and lifted a hand.

"Help me up!" she said, and Stu grabbed her hand, hoisting her onto its back as well. As the little girl settled on the cow's back, Stu turned to her and said, "Hold on tight to me."

He kicked the cow again and it took off again, trucking along as it went from one end of the field to the other. May wound her arms around Stu's waist, and the two children were laughing happily until a shout from the entryway to the farm caused them to look up, scared.

* * *

Claire's husband, Gray, was standing near the house, holding onto Claire as he walked her home, scolding her for leaving the house just to bring him lunch. He was about to take her inside when he heard laughter and looked up to see May and Stu sitting atop Claire's favorite cow.

Without a second thought, he let go of Claire for a second and yelled, "What are you doing?" As he watched the two children frantically jump off the cow and run off towards the bridge on the other side of the field, he moved to go get them before realizing that Claire would fall if he let go. Cursing under his breath (which got him a reproving look from Claire) he turned to help her into the house before heading towards the town to go get help.

* * *

The two ran until they were out of breath and were lost in the woods. With a huff, Stu collapsed on the ground, sprawling out his legs while May put a hand to her chest taking a deep breath.

After a few minutes, the two children had gotten their breath back, and May danced back and forth anxiously.

"What are we gonna do?" she squealed, causing Stu to roll his eyes. Reaching up, he grabbed her hand and pulled her down next to him.

"We're gonna relax, that's what," he said decisively, even though inside he was getting slightly wary as the sky grew darker and darker. As the sun started to go down, he saw May shiver and he felt guilty for bringing the normally obedient girl into this sort of situation.

Throwing his small arm around her shoulder, he pulled her close so her head was on his shoulder, and he muttered fiercely, "Don't worry, May. They'll find us and we'll be fine. Just rest for now, okay?"

May hesitated, before nodding and falling asleep against Stu with a small smile on her face.

* * *

"If we don't find those two kids soon, the old man's going to have a heart attack, and Elli will cry," Gray muttered to Cliff, who nodded, holding his torch higher.

"It's getting dark and cold too…let's hurry," Cliff murmured, and both turned to look in other directions while Rick yelled through the darkness.

"May! STU! Where are you?!"

* * *

The moon was high in the sky when May woke up. She stretched pleasantly, before realizing how cold it was and that she and Stu were still somewhere on the mountain.

The little boy was sitting up still, his arm wrapped around her as he attempted to keep her warm. Not looking away from the moon, he muttered, "I'm sorry, May."

May blinked, and Stu continued.

"I shouldn't have said it was okay to ditch Carter's lesson…I just…I wanted to have fun is all."

The little girl rubbed her eyes, then gave a small smile and leaned into her friend, snuggling up to him. Stu blushed as she said, "It's okay, Stu. I did have fun. I always have fun with you."

Still blushing, the boy coughed and looked up at the moon.  
"May?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you always wanna be together and have fun?"

"Mmm…of course I do. We're friends, right?"

"…Right. But I mean, like when we're grownups and everything, would you still wanna be with me?"

"Yeah, Stu. I'll always wanna be with you cause you know how to make me smile and laugh, even if I'm lonely cause I don't have a daddy or mommy."

"Okay. Will you marry me then, May? When we're grownups and everything? That way we'll never have to be apart, ever."

"Okay. We'll have lots of fun then cause we can do whatever we want since we'll be old."

"Yeah."

* * *

_Twelve years later…_

* * *

"Hurry up May!" Stu laughed huskily, watching as she frowned with concentration.

"Don't rush me, otherwise I'll trip," she worried, but Stu just laughed and reached over with a long arm to pull her up to where he sat in a tree.

"You'd trip anyways, clumsy," he said, smoothly kissing her on the cheek.

May blushed and pouted, fiddling with her skirt.

"'Snot true," she muttered, but she leaned into Stu as he wrapped his arm around her warmly.

The two sat in silence as the moon rose, the same way it had so long ago when they'd gotten lost in the woods that day.

"You remember how much Elli scolded us?" Stu chuckled, twisting a strand of May's long black hair around his finger, and May smiled gently at the memory.

"We got into such trouble, that day! Grandfather wouldn't let me out of his sight for two whole seasons," she laughed.

Stu smiled and leaned forward, kissing her forehead.

"I'm glad we did it though. Remember that promise, May?"

May blushed, recounting the words the two had exchanged that night.

"Of course I do," she said quietly, and Stu smiled down at her before cupping her cheeks so that her upturned face was looking at his.

"I meant it, you know. Even if I didn't know the full meaning behind it at the time, I loved you May. Maybe not the same way I do now…but I just want you to know. It's always been you."

May smiled and reached up so that the two could exchange a gentle kiss.

"I meant it too," she said, and Stu smiled as he reached down in his pocket, his fingertips skimming across the top of the blue feather he held there.

* * *

**OMIGOSH YOU GUYS. I think I have a new favorite little couple in Mineral Town XD**

**Initially, when I wrote this I had no idea if it would even work out, but the more I wrote the more I fell in love with the idea of the romantic "childhood promise" notion. Also, Stu's mischievous nature contrasts with May's gently, obedient one, which is already a cute base to begin with. **

**They're ten when the story starts...**

**but they grow up XD I couldn't have kept them as little kids; somehow that just wouldn't have felt right to me at all. **

**Anyways. I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I did XD**

**Leave requests if you like!**


	19. Please

**Motivation comes in many forms...and so this oneshot was inspired by a request.**

This oneshot is for Urter :) Enjoy, and more requests for this story are welcome, since for some reason I can't seem to come up with anything inspiring on my own XD I don't really know why, but there you have it XD

* * *

Every day, she watched as he and Cliff would meet at the inn in the morning before heading over to the church together. And every day, she'd give a little sigh and sink her chin into her hand, watching as the object of her affection left with barely a hello thrown in her direction.

If it wasn't for Cliff though, Ann knew that Jack would never come by the inn, much less say two words to her. Luckily, Cliff thought Ann was an okay girl, and that was enough to make Jack friendly-ish towards her.

Sure, he wasn't throwing roses at her window, or serenading her, but at least he was talking to her. Ann knew that Jack hated those who bullied his best friend; as was made quite clear when he overheard Popuri and Karen talking about how Cliff needed to man up.

Jack hadn't spoken to either of them since he'd told them off for being so mean.

Ann was getting frustrated though with the way Jack never even looked her way, and she had had enough of it. Packing up a basket for lunch, she headed for the one place where she could really let loose.

* * *

"I don't understand it…I swear, it's like he and Cliff are freaking MARRIED the way they're always together," Ann complained to the blonde who stood in the kitchen, staring determinedly at the oven in hopes that the cookies would come out alright this time.

"Mmmhmm…" Claire murmured in agreement, watching the cookies as if in doing so they would turn out better than her last five attempts.

Ann gave her friend a look, then smiled when she saw how hard Claire was concentrating.

"They'll be fine this time, I'm here to help remember?" Ann reassured the blonde, and Claire straightened up to lean on the counter, looking at one of her few friends in the town.

Claire was a strange girl, and many of the townspeople had avoided her for that. Known as Carter's 'adopted daughter' she had come to the town with the priest not two years ago, and no one had really taken to her kindly since.

Of course, it didn' t help that people thought she was every bit as odd as Carter was. Ann had been her first and only friend before Cliff had come to the town and caught her eye. And Ann knew that Claire had a major thing for the man, despite how gloomy he was.

Personally, Ann didn't quite see it herself, but she supposed it was just fine since that meant she and her friend wouldn't both be after the same guy.

Claire interrupted, breaking through Ann's thoughts.

"You know, I don't really get it either." Claire said, frowning as she thought about it. "Jack takes away any alone time I have with Cliff; he's always visiting the winery, or always at the church. It's like he NEVER GOES AWAY."

Ann smiled down at her hands.

"I think he's just looking out for him though…I mean, Cliff IS the kind of guy you just can't help but want to take care of," Ann admitted, remembering how bad she'd felt upon first meeting Cliff. He'd looked so pitiful and sad that she had just HAD to help him out.

The oven gave a ding, and Claire smiled at Ann before pulling out the cookies.

"Well, when I give Cliff my chocolate cookies tomorrow for Winter thanksgiving, it ought to catch his attention. And you should give something to Jack."

Ann blushed at the idea while Claire tossed the cookies into a pretty bag.

"Y-you really think so?" Ann breathed. "But what if he doesn't accept it?"

Claire scoffed at the idea. "Who wouldn't accept something from someone as cute as you?" she asked, causing Ann to giggle at how un-ladylike her friend was.

"You know, for a preacher's so called daughter you're not very gentle," she teased her blonde friend, causing Claire to grin before tugging her to the door.

"Whatever. Just do it okay?"

* * *

The next morning, when Jack came into the inn, Ann was waiting. She'd gotten up very early to make the cookies, and was nervously rocking back and forth on her feet when Jack walked up to her, a polite but curious smile on his face.

"Hey Ann," he asked, looking at her and wondering why she had a trouble expression on her face. "What's up?"

Ann managed to stutter out a hello before hurriedly saying, "So Jack, I made you something and I-"

She was interrupted as Cliff walked down the stairs to greet his friend.

"Hiya Cliff!" Jack called happily, and at the point Ann's patience snapped. She'd worked so hard for this moment, and to have it ruined by Cliff…it was unforgivable.

With a sob, Ann glared at Cliff then looked back to the farmer, who stood looking at her uncertainly.

"Well that's fine then! That's just fine. Don't mind me at all!" she cried out, throwing the bag at him and running out the door, nearly knocking over Claire who'd just come into the inn to try and give her present early as well.

"Ann wait!" Claire cried, while Jack slowly bent down to pick up the small gift and looked at it in wonder.

Before anyone could do anything else, Claire whirled around, a furious look in her eyes. Marching straight up to Jack, she reached up and slapped him loudly, the sound echoing around the near empty room.

While Jack stumbled away from Claire, he looked up and saw the blonde was on the verge of angry tears.

"You're so stupid…how cruel can you be? Don't ignore someone who's right in front of you!" Claire said, bringing an arm up to cover her teary eyes. Scrubbing at them furiously, she glared at Cliff, who was frozen on the stairs.

"That goes for you too! Idiots!" Claire cried before running out as well, letting the door slam shut behind her.

Cliff watched as the door swung shut before walking down the steps slowly to where Jack sat on the ground, hiding his face in his hand.

"Maybe we should do things over again…and this time, do them right," Cliff said gently, and Jack's other hand clenched around the bag that Ann had thrown at him.

* * *

Jack found Ann sobbing by the Harvest Goddess's spring. Her braid had come undone in her mad scramble, and her hair fell around her shoulders in auburn colored waves, contrasting beautifully with the pure white snow that lay everywhere.

He walked up quietly to her and stood just behind her.

"Ann," he said, and she fell silent and looked behind her to see him standing there, a serious look on his face.

Her face streaked with tears, she hiccupped and said, "G-go away. It's not like…it's not like you care anyways about me! Why don't you just go hang out with someone else, someone important?"

Jack's hand formed into a fist, and before Ann could react he'd rushed up to her, one hand on her shoulder and the other on her chin, tilting her face upwards so that she could see the burning look in his eyes.

"You are important! I care a lot about you! I care a lot more than you think!"

At his words, Ann stared at him wonderingly while Jack slowly sank to the ground until he was squatting next to where she sat. He put his head in his hands and moaned before finally speaking.

"Cliff and I were so stupid…to think that by ignoring the girls we liked that we'd catch their attention. To think that giving expensive presents would make up for all the times we could've asked them on dates, or just talked to them instead of working ourselves raw just to buy petty things."

Ann tilted her head, a confused expression on her face.

"What?" she asked, not entirely sure what he was going on about.

The farmer looked up, his eyes burning.

"Do you have any idea, how much it kills me to think that you think I don't notice you? I noticed you the first time I went into the inn. You're so happy, and beautiful and lively…and I wanted you. I wanted you to be mine. I felt like it was a selfish feeling at first, and I tried to shut it away until I met Cliff; someone who understands what it's like to want someone but not understand what to do.

So we thought, if we can play like we don't care, they'll pay attention to us. If we work hard, we can get them something nice and they'll fall for us. We were so stupid to think something like that would work, because in the end I've just hurt you.

Ann, do you have any idea how much you mean to me?"

With that, Jack leaned forward and grabbed Ann's arm, pulling her down to kiss her. The kiss was short and sweet, before he broke off and looked away with a blush.

"S-so…do you understand?" he asked, blushing furiously and wishing he could've been more suave about the whole thing.

Ann smiled, and leaned down, her eyes already half closed.

"I understand. Jack…can you do it again?" she asked gently, and he looked at her with surprise before he nodded and leaned in to kiss her once more.

When he pulled away gently, she tugged at his overalls and whispered, "Again…"

In a flurry of snow, Jack tackled the innkeeper's daughter to the ground, entwining his hand with hers as he kissed her, releasing the feelings he'd been holding back for so long.

His frantic kissing stopped as the two broke away, panting for air. While Ann tried to catch her breath, Jack leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes closed.

"Can I…?" he asked, his lips already murmuring the words against hers. Ann blushed, and Jack felt her hand tighten in his before she said, "Please."


	20. Together

**Apologies now, if their romance seems rushed...but hey, things like this really CAN happen fast XD**

* * *

_Claire's POV_

When I see the rundown field, I huff and cross my arms.

What the hell?

This is definitely nothing like the ad promised it would be…while I fume, I hear the soft thud of footfalls behind me, and I turn my head ever so slightly to see who it is.

A boy my age stands there. He's got light brown hair that is held back by a baseball cap, and he wears overalls like I do. The most surprising thing though, is the look he's giving me.

He's blushing, but looks confused as to why I'm here, like this is HIS place.

"Um, Miss?" he says, and I turn around to face him completely.

"Yeah?" I ask, wondering what he could want.

He clears his throat and sets his rucksack (so similar to mine!) down to the ground gently.

"It's nice of you to come greet the new farmer," he says happily, rubbing the back of his head with a pleased smile, "but I'm not really ready to meet anyone from the town just yet since I just got here-"

I interrupt him, giving him a weird look.

"What are you talking about?" I wonder. "I'm not from my town…and besides that, I'm the new farmer. Who are you?"

The boy blinks, before frowning and looking at me like I'M the one out of my mind.

"I'm Jack? I came here to take over this farm?"

Huh. Well I'm not about to let this boy just take this farm away from me. Standing up straighter, I toss my hair back and stare at him defiantly.

"Well that's funny, because I'm Claire and I came here to take over this farm too."

We stare each other down over the shipping bin, and I can already tell that I'm not going to like this guy, no matter HOW cute I think he is.

* * *

_Jack's POV_

Wow. She's beautiful.

Those are my first thoughts when I walk onto my new farm and see a blonde girl turn to look at me. She doesn't quite turn to face me at first, but I can see her blue eyes are filled with confusion, and her pink lips are parted ever so slightly, like she's about to say something but isn't sure what.

Not to mention her figure. I mean honestly, what kind of female looks womanly in OVERALLS? That's a rare thing in itself, and I want to smile. It's kind of nice, to think that the first person I'll meet here in my new home will not only be a beauty, but will probably be really sweet too.

I'm surprised when she turns to face me after pronouncing that she's come to take over the farm too. On top of that, she's got so much attitude! What the heck?!

What's going on here?

We're about to start all out bickering when a short stout man comes up, waving his arms as he charges towards us.

"Now now! Don't fight, we've got it all settled here!" he says, waving around a piece of paper.

Both Claire and I turn on him ferociously.

"What?" we spat at the same time, before we shoot each other glares as if to say 'don't mimick me!'

The man just huffs and catches his breath before straightening up and announcing himself as the mayor.

"I've come to explain everything!" he says, gulping when he sees Claire pull out a bent sickle and start twirling it casually between her fingers.

"Oh? Do explain then, and make it quick." She says coldly. I shake my head to clear the thoughts of how extremely hot that sounds, coming from her in that voice, and step forward, giving the mayor a cold glare myself.

He cowers before the two of us before meekly holding up a paper and saying, "Well, this farm is really big, so I thought that two farmers would be better than one…so you two can farm together…" his voice trails as an incredulous look comes over my face.

I'm about to complain when Claire starts giggling. Suddenly, she's all out laughing, the sickle idle in her hand while her laugh echoes around the farm.

"You…you're kidding right?" she finally says, wiping tears from her eyes. But when the mayor slowly shakes his head, she sobers up immediately.

"You want me…to stay in the small house…with some guy I've never met before in my entire life?" she says, pointing at me while a hint of a blush graces her cheeks.

Before either of us can do anything, she just closes her eyes and rubs her forehead, giving a loud, long sigh.

"Look. I'm going to go stay in the inn until we can figure out who's going to really take over this farm," she says, before opening her blue eyes to look at me.

"I'll be back to tomorrow to settle this," she growls, before marching off imperiously.

I watch her go, kind of wanting to chase her and tell her staying together might not be such a bad idea. Then I remember her bad attitude and shake my head, trying to clear those thoughts, but the remain as I watch her leave.

* * *

_Claire's POV_

Okay, so maybe the idea of staying on a farm with a cute guy to help me isn't such a bad idea. But I don't want to seem like I'm so easy girl who will just ACCEPT that kind of situation so easily.

I shake my head, trying to remind myself that no matter how cute I think this stranger is, he's still a stranger.

As I march through the empty town, I sigh before I enter the Inn.

"Please let there be a room," I pray silently, before swinging the door open.

xxxXXXxxXXXxxXXXxxx

I'm greeted by a pretty girl in overalls like mine, her hair tied back in a long braid.

"Hello! Welcome to the Inn!" she says cheerfully, and I smile, glad to see someone so friendly.

"Hey," I say back, "Do you have a room?"

As soon as the question leaves my mouth, she gets this troubled look on her face.

Well shit.

She shakes her head, still looking troubled.

"I'm sorry, but we're full tonight and-"

"That's alright," I interrupt her, already waving as I head back to the farm, "I think I know somewhere I can stay."

xxxXXXxxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

He stares at me, one of his eyebrows raised skeptically.

"You came back?" he asks, sounding confused, although I can detect a hint of something else in his voice. I'm not really sure what it is, but it seems like he doesn't sound mad that I'm here on the doorstep, asking to be let in.

I'm ready to say something sarcastic again when a sudden downpour stops me in my tracks, soaking me instantly. Before I can even react, he grabs me and pulls me into the tiny hut, closing the door firmly.

"I…I don't have any extra clothes but…you can borrow my shirt!" he says, blushing as he unstraps his overalls and takes off his undershirt, flinging it at me.

I take the shirt, trying my best not to blush over the fact that we're being forced into some kind of weird, bonding situation.

That, and he's pretty hot shirtless.

This is going to be a long night.

* * *

_Jack's POV_

"D-don't peek! Or else!" she threatens, but I can tell her voice is quavering. Just like me, she can feel the tension in the air, the feeling like something's about to happen.

When I hear her wet clothes slip to the floor, I bite my lip and stare even harder at the wall. It takes her all of a minute before she stutters out that I can look, but when I turn around it takes all my willpower to not blush.

I look away and clench my hands.

Sure, I'm bigger than she is since I'm a guy, but regardless the shirt's a bit small on her anyways. It stops just at her mid-calf, and I'm sure that if it was even an inch higher I'd be able to see her panties. This whole situation just screams of so many tempting things to me, but I try to calm my self anyways.

I don't even know this girl.

As if she can read my mind, she sits down on the bed before hesitating and patting the spot right next to her. Although it might be dangerous to sit that close to her in our current state, I go ahead and sit anyways, wondering what she wants.

"I…I'm sorry at the way I acted before. It just kind of shocked me…to think that I'd have to share with someone I don't even know," she says with a soft laugh, seeming totally different from how she was earlier. She's about to say something else, but then we're plunged into darkness when lightning crackles outside and takes out the power.

I'm about to get up and calmly light a candle when I hear a whimper, then feel her clutching my arm tightly. Oh, this is bad. I can feel her soft body as it presses closer to mine, and all the while she whimpers, clearly scared of the dark.

"C-claire," I manage, "Let me just go light some candles okay?"

She shakes her head frantically and clutches me tighter. Thank Goddess for this dark; otherwise she'd be able to see how red I am right now.

"I-I'm sorry," she sobs out, "I know we don't know each other but I…"

I give up, no longer able to control myself. In a moment I've got her pinned down on the bed, her wrists trapped by my hands.

"We don't know each other, yeah. But we can start now, if you'd like," I say low.

* * *

_Claire's POV_

I can't really say I don't like this sudden turn of events.

Yes, I don't like the dark. But, I do like the way he's over me now, the lightning from outside illuminating him as he holds me down, a dark look on his face.

Maybe I should be afraid, and maybe I shouldn't be so happy about this, but I can't help it. I'm drawn to him…and with the way he's acting, he's obviously drawn to me.

His grip on me lightens, and I realize that he's starting to get off me.

"I'm sorry, I just…" he mutters, sounding miserable, and I decide that it's time I stop pretending too.

Reaching up, I grab at his overalls (which are tied around his waist) and pull him back down, kissing him. At first, he doesn't react, seeming surprised at what I'm doing, but in an instant his surprise goes away and I can feel him kissing me back.

He breaks away, panting a little and then gives me a look, seeming to ask if it's okay.

"Should we…maybe we should start this whole getting to know each other a different way," he says, turning so red that even in the dark I can tell he's blushing. "I'm not the kind of guy to just…I mean, when I like a girl or think she's interesting I want to cherish her and-"

I interrupt him, putting a finger to his lips.

"Do you want to try farming together?" I ask, watching as he gives me a grin.

"Yeah," he admits sheepishly. I smile before pulling him in for another kiss.

"Good. We start tomorrow," I say, before snuggling up to him, hiding a pleased smile when his arms go around me.

* * *

**I always think of Jack and Claire as meant to be because they totally should've had them in the same video game, the way they have Mark and Chelsea in Sunshine Islands. It makes me feel like if the main character actually had someone who was destined to be with them...call it fate you know? XD**

But oh well. Expect the next request soon and feel free to leave any others! :)


	21. Chocolate

**So...we have a slow romance to counter the previously fast one XD Enjoy!**

* * *

The door chimed happily, and Elli looked up from her desk, curious as to who it was. It couldn't be Sunday already…could it? And normally Lilia was never this early…

She was surprised, to say the least.

xxxxXXXXXxxxxXXXXXxxxXXXXXxxxxx

He was back, and sooner than she'd expected. It had been all of two days since she'd last seen the new farmer.

His brown hair was just as she'd remembered it; still tucked messily under a hat, leaving his dancing eyes free to roam without a hindrance.

Of course, the large cut on his arm was new.

xxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Two weeks. No sight of him either.

Elli was worried that he hadn't been taking care of himself. Since the day he came in with the cut, she'd been worried about him. After all, a sickle wasn't the only dangerous tool a farmer had to use.

What if he hit himself with the hammer, or dropped his axe on his foot?

She'd visit, if she wasn't so shy about it.

She didn't know why she was so bashful about it either, to be honest.

xxxxXXXXxxxXXXXxxXXXXxxxXXxxxXXXXxxxx

Elli blushed, seeing the cookies on her reception desk.

For a brief moment, she entertained the thought that the Doctor was finally taking a notice to her. Then she shook her head and looked closer at it.

The cookies were poorly made (there's no way the Doctor could have baked them, being the perfectionist he was), but she could tell that there had been effort poured into them regardless.

On the card, there was nothing save a single word. A name.

Jack.

xxxxXXXXxxXXXXXxxXXXXXxxxXXXXxxxxXXXxxxxx

Summer came sooner than she thought.

Stu came in one day to the clinic with a bug, scaring her. When she chased after, she found herself facing the farmer, who was smiling at her happily.

"Hey Elli," he said amiably. "What's up?"

She blushed and stuttered out a greeting before informing him that he was being used as shield by her brother.

When Stu protested and turned to the farmer, Jack surprised her by agreeing with him but then saying that it was still mean of him to make a girl cry.

"Never," he said, glancing up at Elli with a look in his eyes that she couldn't quite place, "make a girl cry. Especially one as pretty as your sister."

xxxXXXXXxxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXxxxxXXxxxxx

Leaves fell, signaling that fall had arrived.

As Elli wrapped her shawl around her shoulders tighter, she winced when a cold wind blew through the town.

It was late, and normally she'd be staying the night at the clinic, but as her grandmother seemed to be getting worse, she was trying to spend as much time as possible at home.

She was closing the Clinic door behind her when a coat dropped over her, falling on her head and nearly burying her. When she glanced up, she saw Jack was standing close by, admiring the flower beds and not looking at her.

"It's cold tonight. I hope you have something warmer than that for when Winter comes," he teased, smiling gently at nurse.

Then, he offered her a hand.

"Shall I walk you home?" he asked, and Elli hesitated for just a minute, before trustingly slipping her small hand into his.

xxxXXXXxxxXXXXxxxXXXXxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxx

As the cold snow of Winter blew in, the warmth of Jack seemed to radiate from Elli's own smile.

She saw him every day now, and he always left a gift for her. Some days, they were all wrapped up in pretty bows, given to her by a blushing farmer. Other days, he left with a hug, and she would dig around in her apron pocket for a pen only to find a gift instead.

The gifts were cherished, each and every one of them, just as every memory of Jack was cherished.

xxxXXXXxxxxXXXxxxxXXXXXxxXXXXXXxxxXXXXXxxxxXXXxxx

When Winter Thanksgiving came, she knew exactly what to do.

She stood nervously outside his door, knocking lightly and half hoping he didn't answer. When he did, she breathed a small sigh of relief before she was pulled inside.

"You'll catch cold out there, if you stay there too long," he said, ushering her to the fire. She stopped him, slowly holding out the chocolate which she'd had wrapped at the Supermarket.

"For me?" he asked, looking pleased when she nodded shyly. He tore the paper off and his eyes seemed to sparkle when he held up the bar of chocolate.

Elli figedted before speaking.

"I-I know it's not as nice as getting chocolate cookies but I was low on ingredients and so I couldn't really…" her voice trailed off, and she looked down at her feet, suddenly feeling ashamed.

Jack's voice brought her out of her daze.

"If you wanted to give me something better," he said, reaching out and putting his hand on her chin, tilting her face up, "how about this?"

He tasted like chocolate.

* * *

**I hope this wasn't too spastic XD But I tried to make it slowish compared to some of the other ones, so leave requests if you want!**


	22. Jealousy

**I've never tried to do a real jealousy thing before, although I'm exploring the concept in my story, "Glass Hearts" right now XD But here is my attempt anyways. I hope you like it!**

* * *

_Jack's POV_

Tch. I'm here again, but she only gives me a hello. But as soon as CLIFF walks by, she becomes so happy that it nearly kills me with jealousy.

What's so special about him anyways?

Am I not good enough?

Not only do I have a job, but I've got a house, a farm, and enough money to get me through for a good few years.

He doesn't have ANY of that…so what does she see in him?

At this point, I'm beginning to worry about appearance, and I've never had that kind of problem before. After all, appearance wasn't all that important when it came to my life…but now that it's a matter of impressing someone, I'm trying my hardest.

It's to no avail though, of course.

The way she acts, you'd think that she's bound to snatch him up sooner or later if no one else does. Although, it's beyond me why anyone would ever want such a gloomy guy anyways.

My sister Claire says it's all about loving a tough, stoic guy, but I don't see him as tough at all. All he ever seems to do is COMPLAIN, and wonder about where he's going in life. I think he's a bit old honestly, to be just now thinking about that.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear Ann's voice calling me.

"Jack? Jack are you okay?" she asks, looking at me worriedly. I realize that I've been sitting at the bar for a good ten minutes now without having moved, and my tank is untouched. Normally, I'd have downed the lot of it by now and have ordered another one before Karen arrives.

How I loathe trying to compete in drinking with others, especially with those who don't know when to stop.

I smile at her and nod a little. "Yeah, I'm fine," I say with a sheepish grin, and my smile seems to put her at ease. She doesn't fuss over me any longer, just smiling back and waving as she goes back to cleaning tables.

Maybe I should have lied.

_Ann's POV_

Something's not right with Jack at all. Actually, now that I think about it, he's been acting strange lately.

First of all, every time he sees Cliff his face gets all stormy, and now he hasn't even started to drink yet and it's nearly eight. I know how meticulous he is about getting things done on time…so something HAS to be bothering him…but what?

I'm worried, sure, but I don't really think that I can help him much anyways. I've got someone else I'm even more worried about.

Cliff. Mmmm….Cliff.

Just the thought of him holding me, or playing with my hair or even kissing me…just thinking about it has me smirking while I clean tables.

Maybe it's hopeless, liking someone who won't even consider romance right now, but all the same I like him anyways.

There's a kind of strength behind his quiet, sad manner…almost as if he's got some other sort of personality. I honestly think that with a little help, he could become quite happy and would make a lot more friends.

Although I hate the idea of any of the other girls in town looking at him in a new way. Already, Jack's sister can't seem to stay away from the church, and since I've got so much work on my hands I can't do much about it.

And I can't go and start accusing Claire of trying to move in on my man, because I never told her how I feel and besides that, Cliff really isn't mine to claim.

Yet.

I jump a little when my thinking is interrupted by a slam. Watching the door fall, I wonder what could possibly be wrong with Jack; he's gone from his kind, happy self to something much more depressing. And while Cliff is just handsome when he broods, Jack just makes me sad.

_Jack's POV_

"Honestly Claire, what the hell is so special about a guy like that?" I yell at my sister.

Not only do I have to deal with the girl I like having a thing for this guy, but my own SISTER likes him! I can't stand the thought of either of them ending up with him.

No guy wants to watch his sister get a job to support a husband. The husband should at least be able to help out as well, if not fully support!

What's WRONG with these girls?

As if she can read my mind, my sister pouts and crosses her arms.

"Oh, you wouldn't get it," she complains, "And besides that, don't yell at me just because you're half drunk and upset that Ann doesn't see you as anything besides a friend."

Her words kind of hit me a little, although I don't want to show it.

Grumpily, I stare her down until she steps back, which is a big thing; my sister doesn't back down easily. With a sigh, I sit down and stare hard at the table, going back into silence while I think things over.

I want to get rid of him, but I know that he'll be gone soon anyways; that bum doesn't have much money left.

Soon, he'll be gone, and I won't have anyone to threaten either my sister, or the girl I love.

xxxXXXxxxxXXXxxxXXXxxx

The next morning, I'm awakened early by a knock at the door. When I open it, I'm surprised to see that Duke's standing there.

"Hey Jack!" he says, "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping out at the Winery tomorrow? We need two helpers to harvest the grapes…so if you and a friend of yours could help that would be great!"

I smile and accept his offer, shutting the door thoughtfully.

Who to invite?

My thoughts immediately go out to the fact that Cliff has no job, but I shrug it off. I don't want him to have a job, and I don't want to give him any more money than he already has. The sooner he leaves, the better.

Maybe Gray? The blacksmith's apprentice and I are close enough friends…

Quietly, I grab some breakfast before heading towards the inn.

_Ann's POV_

Jack's here awfully early. I wonder what it could be?

I was surprised to hear him knock on the door, but I was even more surprised when he asked if he could see Gray. I hold back a smile at the thought.

Sure, I haven't known him for so long, but Gray's not a morning person. This should be funny, if nothing else.

Quietly, I sit down on the stair steps to listen in on the conversation. I know it's wrong to eavesdrop, but I'm too curious sometimes for my own good; it'll haunt me later if I don't find out what this is all about.

"Seriously? What the hell, Jack, why are you here so damn early?" Gray says angrily, and I hold back a laugh just imagining the look on his face right now. Jack sighs.

"Calm down. Geez, the way you act in the mornings leaves you no room to complain about your grandfather's attitude. I came here to ask you if you wanted to take on a day job with me tomorrow."

I freeze at this. A job opportunity?

"What do you mean? I have more practice…"

"Yeah, I know, but I can ask Saibria for you. Look. Duke just came to my house and asked if I wanted to help him out tomorrow and I said I would. Then he told me to bring along someone else to help out, so I thought about you."

Gray's about to say something when Jack says, "Besides that, if you help me you can come back to my house for dinner tomorrow…I'll have Claire make something for you."

There's no hesitation in Gray's voice when he says, "If I get to see Claire…okay. I'll be there. But hey, shouldn't you be asking someone else who REALLY needs the money right now for this kind of thing?"

Jack laughs, a bitter sound that has me shocked. I've never heard him make that sound before.

"Not a chance. You know perfectly well that I don't plan on letting our little…friend stay here for much longer. And I know that you don't want Claire to take a liking to him anymore either so…"

I stand up slowly and creep back down the stairs, not wanting to hear anymore of this conversation. I know who their talking about; it's so obvious.

But why does Jack have a grudge against Cliff?

_Jack's POV_

When I get downstairs, Ann's glaring at me.

There's no way she was….

As she says, "Jack, we need to talk," I know that she was definitely listening in. I probably should have seen that coming, but at this point I don't really care.

Before she can say anything, I grab her by the hand and drag her outside, towards the beach.

When we get there, I drop her hand and stare out at the ocean, the air frigid as we stand there in silence.

"Why are you trying to get rid of Cliff?" she asks, straight to the point.

It's one of the things I love most about her; she's honest and doesn't beat around the bush, like so many others I know.

I turn to look at her, wanting to reflect the same sort of boldness back at her.

"Why do you like Cliff?" I ask, watching as her cheeks get a slight hint of pink. Bingo.

"I…he's nice."

"And I'm not nice?"

"No, no you're nice too…"

"So what makes him special then, huh?"

I watch as she falls silent, unable to explain herself to me. After a moment, she goes to open her mouth and counter me back, but I've had enough of her defending him.

Grabbing her hand, I pull her forward into a kiss. When we break off, I look down and note that she didn't push me away, and that she's now blushing.

"I'm nice, right?" I murmur, "and I can take care of you…I WANT to take care of you…can't you see that?"

She looks up at me, seeming uncertain.

"Don't be afraid," I say, bringing my hands to her cheeks and tilting her face up to meet mine. We don't speak much after that; the two of us are far too busy enjoying each other.

After a solid few minutes of kissing, she breaks off and pants, "But if you're nice…you'll still offer him this job."

I don't want to hear her still holding onto the idea of him staying, so I grab her into a hug, letting my hands go to her waist. While she gasps at the gesture, I bury my face into her hair and enjoy her scent.

"I'm nice…I'm nice enough to keep him from getting this job. After all, he likes to travel doesn't he? I think he's overextended his stay here."

* * *

**Well...that's that XD Feel free to leave any more requests, although I might be taking longer and longer time getting around to these, since I'm more focused now on my new main story. Thanks for reading!**


	23. Envy

**Oh my gosh, it's been forever since I updated on this story XD So apologies for that first, since I was so wrapped up in my Glass Hearts story that I couldn't think of anything to do for this XD**

**But I did it! I drilled through the writer's block and finally did it!**

**Urter, I'm sorry it took me so long, but I really hope you enjoy it anyways! **

**And now, I present to you, entirely in Popuri's thoughts; Envy**

* * *

It isn't easy being a maiden in love you know.

Especially when the person you're in love with doesn't even seem to realize that you're right there, in front of him.

I mean, what am I supposed to do about that? Jack treats me just like a little kid!

He calls me "Ruri", which is cute I admit, but he doesn't ever seem to see me.

How I long to be seen.

xxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXxxxx

I'm walking down the street towards the old farm when I see another small figure heading in the same direction. Quickly, I run to the fence and crouch down low, watching with narrowed eyes as the smaller figure passes me and walks straight down the path towards the farm.

Just perfect. I don't know why, but lately I've become so irritable. Even my brother says I'm not my usual, sweet self.

I blame all the girls in this town, except Karen. We're all aiming for the same guy; how can I NOT be bitter when I see him treating them like a woman more than me?

As I berate myself and mutter, I realize quickly that I need to get down to Jack's farm, and quickly at that if I want to see what's going on between him and Mary, that quiet little librarian.

Slowly, I creep towards the farm before setting off at a full out run.

When I get there, I see the two of them are near the house, and I sneak over by the mailbox, listening in carefully.

"Thanks, it was really great of you to come all the way here just to bring me that book I asked about yesterday," I hear Jack say gruffly, and I blush a little as I picture him rubbing the back of his head. He always does that when he's being shy about something.

Then I remember that he's being shy around Mary, and the blush quickly fades to be replaced by anger.

Mary's soft voice answers him as she says quietly, "Oh, it was no problem at all, really. I…I wanted to."

"You did?" He sounds surprised. Well good, he should be. That means that so far, I'm still ahead of her in his sight.

"Y-yes," she stutters out, and I can picture her shoulders falling a little as she says so. The disappointment that he clearly doesn't know why she wanted to see him is more than apparent in her voice.

Jack though, being the slightly oblivious guy that he is, seem to feel guilty for making her sound that way, even if he doesn't know what he did wrong.

"Ah, well it was nice to see you! I'll be sure to visit the library soon again!" he says cheerfully, and I can tell that by his tone he's hoping she'll respond to his smile. I don't know how anyone couldn't respond to such a happy face though, to be completely honest.

It must work, because Mary sounds slightly more cheered as she replies, "Yes, please do. Well, I'll be off then. Good-bye, Jack."

"Bye, Mary!"

As her footsteps head towards me I stand up and back away from the mailbox, so that it appears I've just arrived on the farm and haven't heard a word of the conversation they just had. When Mary sees me, she gives a nervous smile before running past, and I scoff under my breath at her fleeing back.

She shouldn't have such a pleased blush for a conversation like that. Although, I suppose to her that's quite the step forward.

Rounding the corner, I get my first look of Jack that day and I make a small, satisfied sigh as the sun hits his tall figure and frames him in my vision. There's something about him that just radiates from beneath the overalls he always wears, or the cap that he uses to hold back his scruffy brown hair.

Maybe I'm just blind to his faults because I love him, but I could care less.

Hearing my footsteps, he looks up and immediately forgets the book in his hands as a grin lights up his face.

"Hey, Ruri," he greets me enthusiastically, ruffling my hair a little as I come up to him and smile back.

Tch! He shouldn't be ruffling my hair, he should be hugging me!

Oblivious as ever, he motions over his shoulder as he opens his door, saying, "Come inside? I've got some fresh milk from this morning in the fridge already, and I figured you'd like some."

I smile at him, and then give a mock curtsy as I walk inside and he follows.

xxxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXXXxxxxxXXXxxxxxXXXXxxxxxx

"Is something going on tonight?" I want to know, as I sit as his table and watch him trying to fix his hair.

This is a first for me, seeing him actually try to fix himself up. Karen would call it madness, but to me it's just kinda cute.

"Well, Ann asked me to dinner tonight at the Inn and I don't want to look bad so I'm working on my hair." He frowns, before seeming to give up. Then, he looks over at me and frowns even more. "Hey, what's up with that face?"

I hadn't realized that I'm grimacing at the thought of him and Ann on a date, and quickly I relax, telling myself to smile.

"Nothing. I just had an unpleasant thought."

It's not really a lie; thinking about him and Ann IS unpleasant to me.

For a second he just stares at me, before going back to the kitchen and rummaging around in the fridge.

"Jack seriously, I'm okay!" I call to him, but then he walks out and proudly places a bottle of medicine on the table in front of me.

"Drink up! Even if you're not sick, this will make you less tired!" he insists, and I smile before taking a cautious sip of the medicine.

While I sip at the bottle, he smiles and says, "If you want more, just let me know. Elli gave me some free samples the other day; she said to think of it as a thank you present for always stopping at the clinic to say hello, but she gave me so much that I don't know what to do with it."

Once I hear it's from Elli, I set the bottle down with a loud clunk and then push the chair back, heading towards the door.

I can't take this any longer; I'm about to scream.

Right as my hand touches the doorknob I feel Jack grab my wrist.

"Wait, Ruri! Where are you going? Did I say something?"

"I'm just going home, that's all. It's getting late anyways, don't you have a date with Ann to keep?"

He's going to smile and just let me leave. I know it. Jack's just that kind of guy; if he has a prior obligation, he doesn't abandon it without reason.

And there's no way he's going to consider me a good reason, even though I am his closest friend here.

I'm taken by surprise though, when instead of letting me go he comes closer and presses his hand against the door. As I look up at him, he leans over me and traps me between his body and wood.

I'm so ready to just tell him exactly how I feel, and exactly what I want when I find myself unable to do so.

My lips are too preoccupied with his for me to complain, or to even make a sound.

He pulls back quickly, before looking down at me and giving me a smile.

"A date with someone else isn't as important to me as time with you is, Ruri."

xxxxxxxXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXxxxXXXXXXxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxx

"Ah!" I gasp a little as he sits me down on the table, pushing into me as he kisses me roughly.

It's so unlike him that for a minute I lose myself, and kiss him back every bit as forcefully. This seems to amuse him, and he chuckles as he pulls away from me.

"Sorry, but you're really cute when you try to be forceful," he tells me, and I pout before crossing my arms.

"Shut…shut up," I say, knowing that my cheeks have got to be a ridiculous shade of red by now.

"Mmmm, with pleasure," he tells me, coming back for another kiss.

It's hard to believe this is happening right now; how could it be?

Like he can read my thoughts, he pulls back and allows me to breathe for a second while he says, "I didn't think…you liked me. I was upset and wanted to see if you'd get jealous…so I kind of flirted with some other girls to see your reaction.

"I didn't think that you'd actually get jealous though."

I give him a little slap at this and frown, scolding him, "Well, of course I would. Besides, I thought YOU didn't like ME."

Jack just grins before letting his fingers dance down to my legs, which have been exposed as my skirt's ridden up quite a bit.

"I guess we don't have to worry about that anymore, huh?" he says, leaning down and brushing my neck with his lips.

I want to reply, but when I feel the warmth of his hand on my leg I quickly fall into silence.

Maybe getting jealous wasn't so bad after all, if it had an outcome like this.

* * *

**Well, feel free to leave any more requests if you like :) Anyways, I'll be putting up another story for Mineral Town soon, so look forward to it! Thanks for reading! :)**


	24. Forgiveness

**Here, for your reading pleasure, is my latest fluff piece yet :) Urter, I looked through my Jack files and saw he hadn't been with Mary yet, so I gave the little librarian her chance ;) I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Jack straightened up and took a good look at his farm, a pleased smile on his face. He'd only been working on the dilapidated place for about a season, and already it was turning out better than expected.

With a happy smile stretching across his features, he tossed his tools down and stretched, before turning around and heading towards town while he whistled a tune.

He found his way to the library easily, as hardly anyone ever went there. During his first week, it had been here where he'd sought refuge from the prying eyes of the curious townspeople, and it had been here where he had found what he needed to start up the farm.

Dusting off his hands, he grabbed the knob and turned, his entrance causing Mary to fumble with her book before she looked up and saw it was the farmer. With a smile, she closed the book as Jack happily bounced over to her, an eager grin on his face.

"I did it!" he announced proudly, while Mary leaned forward and watched him with a smile not unlike a proud mother's.

"That's good to hear," she said in her soft voice, reaching up to adjust her glasses while Jack leaned on her desk and grinned at her. "I bet it's coming along quite nicely; I'd love to see it sometime."

"Sure, sure! But hey, we should celebrate tonight in honor of me finally clearing that weed-ridden field!"

"C-celebrate?" Mary nervously folded her arms and held them close to her chest, a small blush painting her cheeks. Jack, not noticing it, gestured with his hands while he continued talking.

"Yeah, I'll take you out to dinner and everything! Let's make a date out of it!"

Mary jumped a little and the blush became more prominent as she stuttered out, "A d-d-d-date? As in…as in…"

Jack, still waving his hands around grandly, interrupted her as he grinned at saying, "'Cause you were my first friend here! You were the only one who understood the reason why I even decided to stay at that farm despite the terrible conditions. You've been such a great support to me, you know?"

The librarian wilted a little at hearing his reasoning, and the blush faded as she smiled to herself and said, "Oh…well, I suppose I can go then."

The farmer smiled and turned, waving as he called over his shoulder, "I'll come to get you around seven then!"

As the door chimed behind him, Mary closed her eyes and muttered to herself, "A date, huh."

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

When Jack came by her house, he was surprised when Anna pointed at the library, a small smile on her face.

"Mary went to tidy up a few things. She absolutely insisted on fixing it, even though I told her it might mess up the hard work I put into dressing her up!"

Jack smiled and reached up to tip his hat to her, only to remember that he hadn't brought it with him in order to add to the 'dressy' look he was going for. Instead, he nodded his thanks and then nodded at Basil before walking outside and heading over to the library, where he could hear some noises coming from inside.

He smiled a little at the thought of Mary still fussing over her books before he swung open the door and heading over to where he could see a small figure's back as she jumped up and down, attempting to reach a certain book.

"Al…most…" Mary said, her tongue half sticking out in determination. She was surprised when she felt a pair of hands wrap around her waist, and she blushed furiously as she heard Jack say, "I've got you, don't worry."

Quickly, she pulled the book out and then said, "Okay, put me down!"

He set her on her feet lightly and she turned around to admonish him for grabbing her and surprising her when she fell silent at the look on his face.

"D-don't stare at me like that, is something wrong?" she mumbled, blushing at Jack's stunned expression. Maybe she should've kept her glasses on after all, even though her mom had insisted on contacts that night.

"Nothing's wrong! It's just…well…I guess I never knew you were this cute."

Mary blushed even more at the compliment, and then nervously tugged at the short skirt, wishing it were longer.

"O-oh, thanks. My mom was really happy when she gave me this outfit and told me to wear it tonight…"

"It's not just the outfit…I mean, you're really cute, Mary."

The librarian's blush kept up, but she told herself that it was just Jack's personality to say that kind of thing. After all, if he meant it the way she wished he did then this wouldn't just be a friendly date. In order to clear her thoughts, she rushed forward saying, "Well we should get going-!" and in the process ended up tripping over the wedges she'd been forced into by her mom.

In a matter of seconds, Jack found himself looking down at Mary's striped blue and white underwear, as she'd managed to land flat on her face and had let her skirt fly up while she fell.

Both of them turned red at this new turn of events, and Jack frantically covered his eyes and said, "I'm not looking! I swear, I didn't see anything!" while Mary sat up quickly and held down her skirt, refusing to meet Jack's eye.

"_How embarrassing!" _she thought, closing her eyes tightly and wishing desperately that it hadn't happened.

The two remained that way for a few more minutes before Jack risked a peek, before letting his hands drop from his crimson face. He hadn't been expecting something like that to happen at all. As if to allay her worries that things would now be awkward between them as friends, he put his hand on her shoulder and said comfortingly, "Are you okay?"

When she turned around and looked at him, Jack's heart sped up a little as she gazed up at him with dazed eyes, her long hair falling around her face to frame it perfectly. He found his gaze lingering on her lips, but when he realized what he was doing he shook his head as if to snap himself out of it.

"_What's wrong with me?" _Jack wondered to himself, bringing a hand up to his face to cover his blush as he used his other hand to help Mary up. "_Maybe this feeling will go away after we finally go to dinner."_

xxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXXXxxxx

On the contrary, Jack found the warm feeling inside his chest growing rapidly as the night progressed. He couldn't tell whether it was because Mary seemed so different from before…was it the way she was dressed?

No, he reasoned with himself. It couldn't be that, because he knew that deep down inside he'd always thought she was cute. Sure, the outfit made things more obvious, but that wasn't it.

While he struggled to understand his own weird thoughts, Mary was having the time of her life.

The embarrassing incident long forgotten after the hour of dinner they'd spent together, she was happily enjoying the dessert that Jack had ordered for her. The two had ordered two different things, what with there being only two different options on the menu, and she was enjoying the cheesecake thoroughly.

Forgetting all about her crush on the farmer and her normal shyness, she cut a small piece off the end of her cake and held out it to Jack, smiling at him prettily as she asked, "Would you like some?"

Jack turned red at her cute expression, before mumbling, "Y-yeah. Thanks."

Mary was about to hand him the fork when he leaned over and bit off her utensil, finally causing her to blush as she remembered that she was with Jack and not just any other guy. She was about to protest (she was slightly mortified that it was in public, yet pleased that she'd have an indirect kiss) when Jack offered a bite of his own cake to her, blushing as he looked away and held the fork out to her.

The two sat in silence after that, but both of them couldn't seem to stop blushing. After a few more minutes, Jack flagged Ann down and paid for the meal, before grabbing Mary's hand and saying, "Come on, I have one last thing I wanted to do with you before I take you home tonight."

xxxxXXXXxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXXxxxxx

As the two finally made it to the grassy area near the bottom of Mother's Hill, Jack loosened the tie he'd been wearing and laughed as he ran ahead, throwing himself down on the grass. Mary hesitantly followed him before sitting down next to where he lay.

Seeing that, Jack pouted before grabbing her arm and pulling her down.

"J-jack!" Mary gasped as she found herself on his chest, and when she looked up she saw that Jack was grinning as widely as ever, although his face seemed to be a little darker than usual.

"It's more fun when you're lying down," he said by way of explanation, and Mary didn't complain when she felt his hand tighten on her hip. She was about to question him as to what exactly they were doing when he shifted slightly and let her roll onto the grass.

She blushed as her eyes met his, and he smiled before saying softly, "Look up."

Reluctantly, she tore her gaze from his but then made a sound of amazement as she found herself looking up at the night sky, each of the stars twinkling like a diamond. It was beautiful.

"Wow! It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, clutching Jack's hand tightly and squeezing it by way of thanks. She was so absorbed with the stars that she didn't notice Jack was watching her as he murmured, "Definitely beautiful."

After a minute, she turned to say something to him but the words died on her lips as she found that they were so close now their noses were nearly touching.

She was getting ready to shy away when Jack brought his free hand up to her face and slowly let his fingers slide down her cheek before his hand fell to the base of her neck, where he ran strands of her hair between his fingers as he watched her.

"So…do I get a thank you for this?" he asked slowly, and Mary blushed furiously before saying, "Well, of course you do."

Jack smiled at that, before saying, "Well, instead of saying 'thank you'…can I have a kiss instead?"

He was half teasing, so when Mary turned to him and leaned in he found himself completely taken by surprise.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxxXXXXxxxxXXXxxxxx

The sweet taste filled his mouth as he kissed her, and he found suddenly that he had been completely oblivious before to what Mary was to him.

How could he have overlooked this, when his feelings and hers were so obviously on the same wavelength?

Mary broke off quickly, pulling back with a blush as she stumbled over her words.

"I-I've always liked you, so if you say stuff like that even i-if you're just teasing I'm going to believe you!"

Jack blinked before smiling at her, the corner of his mouth lifting as he laughed at her mortified expression. She made a face and was about to get up and storm off when Jack's hand slipped down to her waist and tightened, drawing her body closer to his as he stopped laughing and his voice dropped to a lower tone, indicating how serious he was.

"Do you mean it? You've always liked me?" he asked, and the librarian blushed and nodded slowly.

She was every bit as surprised as he had been when Jack leaned forward and kissed her, letting himself give in to the temptation that came with the whole scenario they were in.

As the two frantically kissed, he rolled over so that he was on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

She whimpered a little when his lips left hers to roam down her neck, nipping her lightly while his fingers intertwined with his above their heads.

They remained that way for awhile before Jack pulled up to look at her, watching as she breathed heavily and gazed at him with shining eyes.

"Sorry for being an idiot and not noticing before," he said low, his free hand roaming down her side to where it lightly played with the edge of her skirt before casually touching her thigh.

Her skin burned as she felt his hand crawl hesitantly upwards, and he licked his lips before giving her a pleading look.

"I'll forgive you…" she panted, "if you keep going."

Her words caused him to blush, but then he grinned and kissed her neck before murmuring into it, "I guess I don't have much of a choice then, do I?"

Biting her lower lip, Jack resumed his attack on the librarian and she gave a small sigh before pulling at his shirt, begging him to come closer to her.

As his hand climbed higher, she closed her eyes and smiled, anticipating what was to come.

After this, she'd definitely have to forgive him.

* * *

**Well, keep on leaving requests! I'll work on them and post them as soon as I can, in addition to working on the epilogue for Glass Hearts and for the story I'm doing on Soul Eater. Also-I'm possibly considering postponing my Mineral Town story in favor of a different story...any Spirited Away fans here? No, yes? Let me know! **

**I've got a bit of an idea...and I wanted to expand on it so I started it because my work style tends to be weird in that I'll start several stories at once to not forget an idea or to let go of my inspiration...but then I finish them all at different rates XD So yeah. Let me know if anyone would be interested in that XD I'll mention it too when I post the epilogue for Glass Hearts. **

**Until next time, thank you for reading!**


	25. Blunt

_Trent's POV_

People always tell me I'm too blunt for my own good. It doesn't make any sense to me though; what's the point in beating around the bush when you can just be upfront about things?

For a long time, I thought I was the one who had this mentality.

But the of course, I met her.

She's something else, that Karen.

I don't really know why, but when I see her I want to reach out and take her hand. I feel like it would be nice…and I want to kiss her.

But liking someone is so far beyond my spectrum of behavior that I can't even begin to try it, especially with someone as bold as her.

No, I tell myself. Stick with what you know.

Don't stray from that path.

Yet, why do I keep finding myself drawn to her anyways?

* * *

_Karen's POV_

"They're staring again," Rick muttered to me out of the side of his mouth. Hearing that had me snickering, although I did my best to hide it.

"Well what do you expect?" I told him. "They're just waiting for you to pop a proposal out or something."

This got a sigh out of Rick, and another snicker from me. We'd been childhood friends, and so when we'd gotten older playtimes had turned into 'hanging out'. That meant every morning he'd sit outside the Supermarket with me and we'd talk about whatever, but ever since we'd started this ritual when we were thirteen the town talked of nothing but how we were bound to get together.

Definitely not happening.

Rick's been my friend for as long as I can remember, and while that means I know everything about him it also means I know all his bad points too.

Between all the guys in town, I'd pick him out over all but one…that doctor.

Now there's a real man for you.

Sure, he can be a cold and robotic at times, but the fact of the matter is that he's mature enough to have decent conversations with you. That, and like me he doesn't believe in beating around the bush when you can just come out and say whatever it is that's ailing you.

That's why I chose to finally confess to him, although he didn't take it as well as I had thought he would. On the contrary, he paled and didn't talk to me at all afterwards.

Rick interrupts my thoughts with a light cough before whispering low, "So…are you going to the Clinic again today then, Karen?"

Rather than answer him, I shoot him a grin and he just smiles as he sits back and looks up at the sky.

We sit in silence for the remainder of our time together before he gets up. As he passes me, he whispers, "Good luck."

* * *

_Trent's POV_

The door chimes, signaling that there's a customer waiting. While I sit at my desk and sort through papers, I hear Elli saying something happily to the customer before sending them my way.

I don't look up, but when I hear the door click shut as the customer closes it, I find myself staring into her eyes.

"Hey, Trent," she greets me casually, going up to my desk and leaning against it.

Her attire isn't as conservative; unlike most of the girls in town, she seems to be very carefree about showing more of her skin.

Not that I mind.

As she leans forward she smirks, as if she's glad at the way I'm so obviously staring at her.

"Something catch your eye, Trent?" she teases, and I look away quickly feeling my cheeks heat up. It's so very unlike me to be thrown off by anyone, but she always manages to do it somehow.

When I don't answer, she stands back and says low, "I was serious, you know. About what I said last time."

I pretend to ignore her, but it's no use. She walks around the desk and grabs the lapels of my coat, pulling me closer as she says fiercely, "Give me an answer alright, dammit! Don't make me wait!"

There's no helping my next action; rather than push her away I pull her in roughly for a kiss, crashing her lips against mine as I snake my arms around her waist.

She responds immediately to my touch, and I nearly lose control of myself as I realize how soft she is. When she bites my lip, my eyes snap open and I quickly pull away with a blush.

"Y-you'll have to excuse me. I don't…I don't know, Karen."

"Ah, that's right," she says, a teasing but happy grin on her face as she leans even closer to me. "I forgot! You think you're incapable of love, right? Well, let me ask you this then, _Doctor._ Did you enjoy that kiss?"

* * *

_Karen's POV_

I watch as his face gets entirely red and he pouts and twiddles his thumbs.

"M-maybe," he admits, and I want to laugh at how much he's acting like a little kid right now. I thought that mature guys were the best, but this by far takes the cake; to see him reduced to this and know it's my work has me wanting to smile.

Besides that, I'm no longer worried about whether or not my affections will be rebuffed; he made his own feelings for me quite obvious with such a bruising, passionate kiss.

Sidling up to him, I grin lazily and reach up to push my hands through his black, silky hair.

"You know, for someone so blunt you're also not being very honest with yourself," I tell him. "Why don't you just submit to me already?"

Rather than choosing to answer me, I find my lips preoccupied once more as he kisses me again, this time pushing me onto his desk as his needy lips eagerly ravish my own.

"Can you accept me then?" he asks, a worried look on his face as he pulls away. "Can you accept the fact that I'm not at all like you thought I was?"

His words cause me to smile gently at him, and I raise my hand to softly touch his cheek with my fingers as I say, "I like this side of you."

My confirmation seems to make him all the more bold, and he comes in again for another kiss.

When I leave his office an hour later, I carefully clutch at my vest, trying to hide the beginnings of a purple hickey.

Seems my life is about to get a lot more exciting than I ever planned.

* * *

**So it took awhile, and personally I feel like it's not one of my best but here it is! I decided to put it up because I already rewrote it like five times and this so far was the best result XD I hope you enjoyed it more than I did!**

**Anyways, feel free to keep leaving requests, although I can't promise quick updates on this story because I've got two main stories I'm working on now, and this has always been more of a side project for me because it's just one shots and not a full on plot story XD**

**Well, thanks for reading, and be sure to leave your thoughts! Also, as a side note, I'll be putting up a story on Spirited Away soon, so look forward to that too if you like that movie!**


End file.
